Crossover
by J. Donavan Edmond
Summary: A series of strange events rocks every Multiverse as a malevolent and powerful mystery man gathers villains from many different worlds to complete his sinister plot. Can the heroes join together in time to save the Omniverse?
1. Chapter 1

**Crossover**

**Chapter One**

**Written by J. Donavan Edmond**

The hall was empty, as the android entered. Its metallic feet echoed off the sleek, black stone walls, barren of any adornment as one might expect of an individual whose every moment was spent seeking a solitary goal. The audio receptors of the android detected a constant clacking sound coming from the far end of the chamber where a massive desk sat on a pedestal. The automaton approached the desk with a constant and confident stride. Perhaps, for the moment, the individual behind the desk was its master, but the android still was who it was.

"Brainiac." said the man behind the desk as he continued to concentrate on whatever he was typing on his computer.

The android stopped four meters from the pedestal and stood with its feet shoulder-length apart and its metallic hands clasped behind his back. "Sir." It said coldly.

"How goes the war?"

"War, sir?" Brainiac asked.

"It's an expression, Brainiac." The robot's leader said, looking up from the screen, "I guess I'm forgetting who I'm talking to. I'm not really used to alien robots. What I meant was: 'How are things progressing with the plan?'"

"Ah, of course. They go well, actually. All goes according to schedule. However, there are some issues."

"What's up?" The leader asked, nonchalantly, a fact that somewhat irked Brainiac's computerized logic.

"Ah, yes." The android began, "As you well know, sir, there are currently three camps of the followers you have gathered and two of these camps are primarily responsible for furthering your goals."

"Yeah, the science types and the magic types." The leader said as he reached into a nearby mini fridge and opened a can of Diet Pepsi.

"Er, yes, well those particular groups seem to be having a slight lack of deference when they interact."

"And I imagine you are here representing the interests of the science folk?"

"No, sir." Responded the android, "I have, in fact, seen the logic in your plan and am interested in completing it fully. Therefore, I am willing to work with those individuals who wield mystic power no matter how irrational such powers may seem to me. Regardless of my background, I am willing to accept that magic is simply a different form of science, albeit one with incomprehensible properties. However, I have found that some of the others are unwilling to compromise their philosophy in an effort to rule their respective universes. I believe that they are failing to see the end goal for what it is. I believe we may need a better motivation."

The leader leaned back in his chair as he took a long pull from his soda and smiled as he set down the can. "Oh, Brainiac," He said with a condescending grin, "Don't you know that I have provided motivation for those individuals."

"In what manner?" Brainiac asked, fearing that it would not like the answer.

"That third camp, there: the muscle."

"The muscle?"

The leader leaned forward and his face contorted into a more sinister smile by merely angling downward. "You know who I'm talking about, Brainiac, the folks who would seem to have no place in the brain trust I have assembled. They're the motivation for anyone who doesn't want to play ball. Remember, I control the rules in this place and my rules say that they are bad ass and the smart folks are wussy. The muscle, Brainiac. Use them as your motivation. Anyone who doesn't want to cooperate? Kill them."

Had Brainiac been a lesser being, a being of flesh, a being of emotion, it might have feared this leader. An individual who would go to such efforts to gather the forces at his disposal and was willing to sacrifice any one of them simply to motivate the others bode of someone with unimaginable power who was completely insane. Had Brainiac not made dozens of deals with mad devils of every imaginable type in his existence, it might have chosen to leave; the leader had informed those gathered that they could leave anytime they wished. However, a being with as much power at his disposal as this one had and who offered what he did could not be ignored.

Brainiac acquiesced: "Understood, sir. It shall be done."

The man behind the desk smiled, pleasently. "Thanks, Brainy! Any more problems, you let me know."

* * *

The monster was called a "Humbaba". It was a throwback to ancient Assyrian mythology that had, supposedly, been killed by the hero Gilgamesh. Unfortunately, a modern-day sorceress who called herself "Ereshkigal" happened upon a tome that told how to bring the Humbaba back to life and use it to destroy the world. Fortunately, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense caught wind of Ereshkigal's plot and sent a team to the undersea Temple of Asag to stop her. Hellboy lead the team and was facing off alone against the Humbaba who, after having his left eye gouged out, was really, really angry.

The creature reared back its bloodied lion-like head and bellowed. Hellboy covered his ears as the monster's wail echoed throughout the chamber and into the next. The massive red hero hoped his allies were smart enough to do the same as he watched Ereshkigal's head explode from the sound. The Humbaba ceased roaring and fell into a stance that let Hellboy know the monster wasn't finished yet.

"I gotta tell you, buddy," Hellboy said as he readied himself for another round, "All you ancient Mesopotamian horrors with your stupid powers really piss me off."

With a battle roar as its only response, the Humbaba leapt at the heroic demon, its sword-like claws slashing for Hellboy's crimson flesh. The hero side-stepped the monster's clumsy attack and caught its leg in his stony right hand as it passed. Swinging, Hellboy slammed the ancient beast into a column, cracking the massive stone support in half. The entire room creaked as the column strained to continue holding the entirety of the ancient temple in place. As the Humbaba tried to get back on its feat, a gigantic stone block fell from the ceiling and crushed the monster's skull. Other stones began to fall as the temple began to collapse.

Hellboy turned from the creature and ran for the room's exit. The rumbling as the ancient sanctuary tore itself apart caused the hero to stumble. Rolling with the fall, Hellboy looked up just in time to see the arch above the door collapse completely and block his only escape. The demon eyed the former doorway for half a second and then looked up.

"Oh crap." He muttered.

The hero twisted his massive body into a leap and narrowly escaped a block which shattered on his former resting place. As he awkwardly landed on his chin, a glint of metal caught his eye. His pistol, the one the Torch of Liberty had given him, lay within arm's reach. He grabbed it and stuffed it into the holster, determining that, if he lived, he would still have his lucky weapon and, if he died, well, no one would be able to admonish him for his pathetic sentimentality.

Hellboy rolled onto his back and leapt up. He searched the room for some escape, fully aware that, any second now, the sea would begin to flood the chamber and he would be done for. Dodging another stone, Hellboy began to fear that this might be his end. Finding himself near the Humbaba's lifeless husk, Hellboy eyed the monster's body.

"Well, looks like you managed to pull off what every other ugly, freak, monster god hasn't," The demon said as looking down on his deceased opponent, "You took out the big... what the hell?"

Suddenly, a blue light engulfed the form of the monster and began to glow brighter. Hellboy reeled from the brilliance, instinctively protecting his eyes from the searing flash. As he did so, a wave of force collided with his body causing the demon to momentarily think that the sea must have exploded into the chamber and that he was going to drown. However, the impact was soon followed by a sensation of falling that lasted longer than the demon thought it should have.

_Okay, Red,_ Hellboy thought, _Anytime your eyes are closed when an op goes south and you open them, you see something that you wish you hadn't. Still, it might be better than not seeing something that eats you so..._

The hero opened his eyes and looked down just in time to see the 17th-century galleon covered in zombies through the thick fog below him.

Crashing to the deck of the ship, Hellboy had the wind knocked out of him long enough to be covered by the undead monsters that swarmed the vessel's surface. The monstrous adventurer struggled to push the hungry creatures off him, but to no avail. Although the zombies' teeth could not break through Hellboy's tough hide, the weight of them, coupled with the force of his impact, was proving to be a strain on the ship's deck wood. It creaked in complaint as the heroic demon struggled to move.

"Sorry, chaps," a voice said from beyond the sea of undead teeth and flesh, "I don't think the red fella's on the menu tonight."

Three of the zombies fell away, headless, in the flash of a cutlass swipe. Able to find leverage, Hellboy rolled forward and used his momentum to leap from the collapsing floorboards to more secure footing. A pile of zombies fell into the bowels of the ship as the floor gave way and the demon managed to remove the last few from his body and toss them overboard before turning to face his savior. As he spun, however, he found himself staring down the business end of a flintlock pistol.

"Well, well, what 'ave we 'ere?" the man said. If ever there was an individual Hellboy could call a pirate, this man would be it. He wore leather boots folded over to his ankle and a sash that caught the wind and flowed behind him. The man's long coat hung open and beneath it, a loose shirt was unbuttoned to show the man's chest. His face was wind-worn and he had a beard that sported a number of long, beaded braids beneath his chin. The captain's hat and the two gold teeth completed the picture of everything Hellboy had always believed a swashbuckler should look like. The man smiled a wry grin, "I'm guessin' I know who you been sent by and I'm more'n willin' to have you go tell Davy Jones to piss on it. However, at this time, I find myself in a limited spot fer negotiations and am therefore willin' to work something out, savvy?"

"Listen, pal," Hellboy said as he swatted the pistol away, "I don't know what you got against the Monkees, but if yer sayin' that you wanna work together to deal with these zombies, say no more."

With that, the mighty demon swung his right hand and shattered the skull of an approaching undead. At the same time, the pirate swiveled and fired a shot through the throat of another zombie. Hellboy drew his pistol and began firing, each shot decapitated another walking dead. At the same time, the flamboyant warrior who had greeted the demon continued hacking away at the creatures while rhythmically loading his pistols and firing them. After a short time, the deck of the ship was nearly free of undead.

Hellboy turned to the pirate, "Are there more below deck?"

"Where, pray tell, can I get one of those?" The pirate said ignoring the demon's question and staring at the pistol in his left hand.

"Come on, buddy, focus!" the massive red hero hollered.

"Just the ones you dropped there." The pirate replied before adding: "Is that German?"

"Damn. We better deal with those ones, too."

"... or maybe French..."

"Where did they come from? How did I get here?"

"... I know, it's Danish!"

"Where _is_ here?"

"... couldn't be English..."

Hellboy finally had had enough and grabbed the pirate by the lapel. "Who are you?!" he yelled.

The man blinked twice at the demon before meticulously extracting himself from the stone grip of Hellboy's right hand and straitened out his coat as he walked two paces away. When he had reached a safe distance, the man spun on his heel and removed his hat with a flourish and a bow. "The name is Captain Jack Sparrow." he said expectingly. There was a pause before the pirate raised his head to see Hellboy's reaction; a reaction that clearly displeased the pirate. He added: "You've heard of me, no?"

"No."

Taking this news of his lack of fame like a blow to the skull, Captain Jack reeled from the experience, seemingly barely able to return his hat to his head. The pirate, clearly in a state of advanced inebriation, stumbled backwards to rest on a crate. Finally, he seemed to have a realization ignite in his head: "You must be from some far off land." He said using his hat to indicate the distance, "That's the only way you wouldn't've heard of Captain Jack Sparrow. Where're you from?"

"Same place this gun is from." Hellboy replied.

"China!" the pirate exclaimed with a brief moment of understanding before saying, "No, that wouldn't be nearly far enough."

"No, jackass. America."

Hellboy was met with a blank stare. "Well, that's where we are now," Sparrow replied, "The Americas."

"No, the United States of America. You know, the most powerful nation on the planet... technologically advanced society lead by Neanderthals... America."

Jack Sparrow looked at Hellboy as though he were seven feet tall and bright red with a tail and broken horns. After a few seconds of this, a realization struck the demon.

"What year is this?"

"Well, last I looked at a calender, which was quite some time ago, the year was 1693."

"Crud, then you've never heard of the USA."

"Right, don't go spellin' things around me." Sparrow said, "I don't trust spellers."

"Alright," Hellboy said with some resignation, "First things first: let's deal with those flesh-eaters below deck and then we can figure out how to get me home."

The demon moved towards the hole that had been made in the deck of the ship with caution. He heard Captain Jack take a few steps behind him and then stop suddenly.

"Oh, bugger." The pirate swore from behind Hellboy.

"What now...?" The demon began as he turned and saw the massive cliff face into which the ship was about to collide. "Oh, crap." He continued.

As the vessel careened towards the rocks, Hellboy could sense a glow from behind him. He turned to see the same bluish-white luminescence that had emanated from the Humbaba coming from the hole in the deck. In one swift movement, he grabbed Sparrow's coat while saying: "Come on!" and leapt into the light. This time, Hellboy managed to keep his eyes open and was astonished by what he saw. All around him were images from a myriad of locations, many of which had strange and wonderful things going on. All of them were surrounded by a frame of pure light the same color as the light into which Hellboy had hurled himself and the pirate. Below, another scene, one that looked like the busy streets of Manhattan, rushed up to greet the duo.

The pair slammed into a taxi cab and bounced to the street. Shaking his head, Hellboy looked to see if the pirate had survived. Jack Sparrow was already on his feet and was clearly livid.

"What the hell did ye do that for? I've been in tougher spots!" He admonished.

"Well, I didn't hear you coming up with any good plans." Hellboy retorted.

"Well, I didn't have time, did I? I was already thinking..." Jack seemed to notice his surroundings, "Where the bloody hell are we, anyways?"

"New York, in my time." Hellboy answered as he stood and looked around, "42nd Street and Madison if I'm not mis... what the hell?"

A building caught the demon's eye. He had been down this block a hundred times, but he had never noticed the marvel of architecture that stood before him. It towered over the nearby buildings and its gleaming silver exterior seemed to contrast the pollution-stained structures nearby. Hellboy stared at the nameplate on the building before reading it out loud.

"Baxter Building."

"You've been 'ere?" Jack Sparrow said as he stepped forward to stand next to the crimson-skinned goliath.

"No, I never could have been." The demon said coming to a realization.

"That's too bad, mate." Sparrow replied, "'Cause I was hopin' ye might know those fellas."

Hellboy turned to see at least a dozen men and women in colorful and unusual costumes staring at the two of them, each wielding some sort of weapon or at least emanating a different form of energy. The one in the lead wore gold and red armor that seemed to fit close to his skin. He hovered in the air several yards from the two unwitting travelers and had his palm raised in their direction.

"Unregistered superhumans," Said the machine-like voice of the armored man, "In the name of the United States, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, surrender or be taken down with extreme prejudice!"

"Bugger." Said Jack.

"Crap." Said Hellboy.

**End Chapter One**


	2. Chapter 2

**Crossover**

**Chapter Two**

**Written by J. Donavan Edmond**

"Mordo!" the 'O' was held out, devolving into a growl as the leader of the collection of villains walked towards the architect of his ire. To his credit, Baron Karl Mordo didn't even flinch and, instead, donned a wry smirk betraying the fact that he knew why he was about to be admonished.

Turning, the Baron bowed in mockery. "My liege." He said, still wearing his smirk, "Whatever can I do for you?"

"Don 't give me that shit, Mordo," the leader began, his face contorting further with each emphasized syllable, "You know why I'm here!"

"Of course," Mordo said, before adding "_Sir_." dripped in sarcasm, "But perhaps our compatriots do not know."

Much to his credit, the leader managed to calm himself immediately. It was clear that he had played this game before and knew how to win it. His eyes remained locked on Mordo's. The two of them were the same height, but their similarities ended there. The leader was wider than the Baron; having a body that was simply built to be large. Mordo wore his green robes impeccably, not a wrinkle could be seen in them, while the leader wore jeans and a black t-shirt that said: "I think we all know why we're here." Even their hair; the Baron's neatly cropped, thinning coif and the leader's mane of silver pulled into a ponytail; were complete opposites.

And keeping with that theme, their faces wore opposite expressions as well. The leader's contorted into a scowl of anger and Mordo's one of calm bemusement.

"I gave one simple rule, Mordo," the leader said, grimly, "All I asked from all of you is that you refrain from your usual tactics of greed and megalomania until the plan is complete, isn't that right?"

"Indeed, it is." the Baron responded, snidely.

"So what were you thinking when you approached Bendix about joining forces and seizing my power?"

Mordo's grin faded immediately. Clearly he had expected a confrontation and had expected to make this leader look foolish to those who were gathered, but he had used his finest spells to hide his presence and had erased the conversation from the mind of Henry Bendix when his offer had been refused. He glanced over at Bendix who glared in his direction; his visage a mix of confusion and anger. He clearly had no idea that he had been approached in the first place, which meant nothing good for Mordo.

The Baron swung his gaze back towards the leader. "How...?" he began.

The leader only gave an evil half-smile as he said: "Nothing happens here that I don't see, Mordo."

"Well, fine," the Baron said, regaining his composure, "But what are you going to do, kill me? I think not."

"And why is that, Karl?" The leader spat Mordo's first name out like a curse.

"You need someone with my abilities from my universe. You said so yourself."

"Well," the leader said, deliberately turning around and taking a step away from Mordo, "I guess I'll have to find someone else."

Mordo grabbed the leader's shoulder and spun him around to face him. "Who, you fool?" He growled, "Who could you find with abilities equal to mine who would not spend every waking moment trying to take your power? Name one sorcerer who is my equal."

The leader stared into Mordo's eyes and responded calmly. "Umar, Kulan Gath, Nagala, Tiboro, Urthona, the Necromancer, Kaluu, Shazanna, Stygyro... shall I continue?"

Mordo's strength visibly drained from him as he let go of the leader and stumbled backwards. However, a realization quickly came to the surface: "You can't kill me!" He yelled, "You have no control over my universe and we can only be permanently slain in our own universes!"

"You're right." The leader said calmly and then looked to the other assembled villains, "He's right. I can't kill any of you..." he then returned his gaze to the Baron, "Permanently."

A sudden realization struck Baron Mordo and he prepared to cast a spell. However, his vaunted magic fizzled out before he could make his escape.

"Tessai." The leader said, calling forward a massive man with rock-like skin and a huge double-bladed sword. The leader looked up at the monster and smiled with mock compassion, "Don't make it pretty." He said, grimly.

The leader left the room with no further conversation; only the tortured screams of Baron Karl Mordo could be heard by those assembled. The leader had work to do.

He had to find a replacement and he wasn't happy about it.

* * *

Susan Richards rounded the corner to, once again, be greeted with an unusual sight. She had become accustomed to the strange happenings that went on in her husband's laboratory, but no matter how callous she often was to whatever oddity was Reed's newest project, when she sow what sat in his lab she could not help but smirk. The extraordinary duo who sat, uncomfortably, on the bench that Reed used for visitors seemed more comical than the usual madness that threatened to destroy the planet (or the galaxy, or the universe). 

The larger of the two was huge, nearly as big as the Hulk, with bright red skin, a tail, and what appeared to be horns that had been filed down to stumps. His right hand was larger than his left and appeared to be made up stone the same color as his skin. The other one was perfectly made up as a pirate, only lacking the peg leg, eye patch, and parrot, which, strangely, seemed to only make the outfit all the more convincing. He smelled of sea air and rum, details those who pretended to be pirates often forgot to add. The oddest thing about the two of them was that they seemed to be as strange to each other as they were to everyone else. Although they had arrived together, they seemed to be strangers.

Sue stepped towards them with the tray in her hand. On it were a pair of plates, each with a turkey sandwich and a hand full of potato chips, and two bottles of orange soda. She smiled as she approached the strange duo.

"Gentlemen," she said, kindly, "I thought you might be hungry."

The large red one smiled and took the plate saying: "Thank you." The pirate, however, was less inclined to be polite.

"What's this, then?" He said as he eyed the tray warily.

"Turkey sandwich." Sue said with a smile, "It's not much, but it should tide you over."

"My dear," the swashbuckler said as he stood abruptly, "Do you know who I am?"

"I'm sorry, but, no." Sue replied apologetically.

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," he said, his gesticulating movements emphasizing every word, "And when I arrive in a place, I am greeted with feasts n' drink n' song. Not, as it were, a turkey. Sand witch."

"Funny," the red one (demon, Sue supposed) added, "I figured you'd be greeted by shackles and imprisonment and a hang man's noose."

Jack was visibly upset. "You bloody liar!" He said accusingly to the demon, "You said you never 'eard of me!"

"Listen, you little punk..." the crimson-skinned monster began before being timely interrupted.

"Boys, boys," Sue said, "Please, be calm. I understand this is a crisis, but Reed will have you home in no time."

The two visitors looked at each other and sat down, Jack taking his plate and drink as he went. Sue smiled.

"So, you're Jack," she said, indicating the pirate and then switched to the larger one, "And you are...?"

"Hellboy." He said with a sheepish smile.

"Hellboy?" She said, "Is that just your alias?"

"Nah, it's the name I was given." He replied with a hint of discomfort. Then he added: "But my friends call me 'Red'. Er, you can call me 'Red'."

Sue smiled and put her hand on Hellboy's shoulder. "Red, it is." She said.

A pair of women rounded the corner from the direction Sue had just come. Natalia Romanova, the Black Widow and the Wasp, also known as Janet van Dyne, had been asked to stay and keep an eye on the two strange guests and Sue was just as happy they had done so. Things had been strained between Reed and her since the Civil War had ended. Reed barely talked about what had happened and Sue often wondered if he felt somewhat guilty about the end result: the assassination of Captain America. The two of them had barely spoken of their own issues during the war. They had all but split up and had intended to work on their issues, allowing Ben and Johnny to continue on as the Fantastic Four alongside Storm, formerly of the X-Men, and her husband, the Wakandan king Black Panther. However, Tony Stark had called them and requested Reed's expertise on, what appeared to be, a pair of dimensional castaways. Despite having repeatedly assured his wife that their relationship was top priority for him, Reed had jumped at the chance to get back in the lab.

Sue wasn't happy about it one bit.

Still, she understood that her husband was the foremost expert on extra-dimensional quantum physics and she was willing to be supportive as long as there was a crisis. It was good, however, to have company, especially that of the female variety and even more so of Natasha and Janet, as they had both had issues with men in the pas that were not entirely dissimilar to Sue's. Having the two super-women around was comforting, but it still did not alleviate the tension when Reed and Sue were in the same room.

The communications array buzzed and nearly everyone in the room turned to face it. Sue quickly became aware that the tension she felt was shared by everyone, and probably had little to do with marital issues.

"Incoming call from Director Stark." The robotic voice from the communicator announced.

Reed lifted his head from the holographic display he had been manipulating and issued a single command: "On-screen."

The face of a handsome man with black hair and a neatly-trimmed circle beard came up on the screen. His shoulders still wore the crimson and gold armor of his Iron Man identity. "Reed, anything new on our visitors?"

"Yes, actually." Mr. Fantastic said as he concentrated on the image of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., "I have discovered that they have quantum reality signatures different from anything I have seen."

"Quantum reality signatures?" The man on the screen inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Each individual and object from a particular reality has a pulse signature that coincides with that reality. I started investigating this after a talk I had with Wendell Vaughn."

"Quasar." Tony said as he averted his eyes downward. News of Wendell's death had just recently reached Earth.

"Right. Apparently, during one of his adventures, Wendell was transferred to an entirely other Multiverse, within, what the Watcher referred to as an 'Omniverse'. After telling me about this, I theorized that perhaps individuals from different Multiverses have some sort of variant signature. I then began seeking some signal that was common within everyone from our Multiverse."

"And to this end, you discovered the quantum reality signature."

"Precisely. I found that every individual I tested had an identical wavelength on so subtle a level, it was all but imperceptible. In fact, this particular wavelength would probably not be sought out unless someone was searching for the exact sort of thing that I had been. Unfortunately, at the time, I had no other quantum reality signatures with which to compare, so its existence was little more than hypothesis.

"However, not long ago I was able to prove my theory." Reed continued, "Tell me, does the name 'Superman' mean anything to you?"

Tony looked slightly confused before a look of realization washed over his face. Before he could respond, however, one of the new arrivals spoke up.

"It means something to me." Hellboy said, standing and setting his plate down.

Reed stared at him wearing a look of suspicion. "You've met Superman?" He said in disbelief.

"No." Hellboy said, "I can't meet Superman. He's a comic book character."

The room was silent for a long moment before anyone spoke. Sue looked at those she had known for many years and fought beside many, many times. Their reaction to this news ranged from obvious disbelief to bemusement. Finally, Tony Stark broke the silence.

"I don't think you know what you're talking about... Hellboy, was it?"

"Of course I do. I used to read Superman comics back when Professor Broom was raising me. It was kinda corny. What I really liked was when you Marvel characters came out."

"What?" Reed said. After all that had happened between them, Sue felt a sliver of enjoyment seeing Reed without answers for once.

"Yeah, you guys are all from comic books. You were created in the sixties by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby." Hellboy continued, apparently unfazed by the circumstances, "'The Fantastic Four'." he said as he indicated Reed and Sue, "You guys were so cool. I really liked the Thing, though, for obvious reasons. I always felt that maybe Stan and Jack had some real empathy by the way they wrote Ben Grimm."

"You know Ben?" Sue asked, shocked.

"Yeah, from the comics." Hellboy answered.

"You say that these comic books are from the sixties?" Tony asked over the viewer.

"1961 was the year Fantastic Four number one first came out." Hellboy replied with a hint of nostalgia, "I was still a kid, but I remember those books like it was yesterday."

"That's not possible." Tony said with obvious disdain, "Stan Lee and Jack Kirby started publishing accounts of our adventures soon after we first appeared, but that was only a little more than a decade ago. Most of weren't even born in the Sixties, let alone active as superheroes."

"Okay, how about this:" challenged the heroic demon. He pointed at Reed, "You guys went up into space on an experimental rocket that didn't have enough shielding from radiation and ended up transformed in weird ways after it crashed back to the Earth."

"Everyone knows that." Stark responded, "It's a matter of public record."

Hellboy ignored him and continued, indicating Wasp, "Wasp, you had a crush on Hank Pym and he used his shrinking gas on you and gave you wings and antenna so you could adventure together." He paused for a second before adding: "By the way, thanks for calling off the tin-plated meat head, earlier. I wouldn't've wanted to embarrass a guy with a heart condition in front of his team by kicking his ass."

"Your welcome." Janet replied, a slight giggle in her voice.

"This proves nothing!" Tony interceded, "Our enemies have ways of finding out our secrets and I have long ago taken care of my heart..."

"And you," the massive red being said as he pointed to the man on the viewing screen, "You were injured by shrapnel in freakin' Vietnam! You were taken by insurgents where you built your first armor using transistors, for Chrissake! Come on! Vietnam? Transistors? Ten years ago, they might have come up with something better than transistors, but in the Sixties?"

Tony Stark stared at the crimson hero for a long moment. Finally, he said: "None of this matters. It's not important. We have to find out where you're from and send you back."

"Actually, Tony," Reed said, "It might be very important. After the Avengers' battle with Superman and the Justice League, when you joined forces. Hank had the opportunity to view some of their data files on the abilities of their members which I have since reviewed as part of my research. Given the level of strength, speed, durability, and sheer power of their mightiest members, they should have been able to easily defeat anyone of your team. Superman's level of power was far in excess to that of you, or even Thor, but you managed to hold your own and Thor managed to hurt him."

"What are you saying, Reed?" Sue asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Well," Mr. Fantastic continued, "It is my theory that, when traveling from Multiverse to Multiverse, individuals don't necessarily have the same levels of power, but rather, continue to fill the roles they are meant to fill in their own universe. If Hellboy, whose technical level of power is far less than, say, Iron Man, was supposed to have the role of one of the strongest beings on his world, he would be a match for any of our strong men. It is the role he is supposed to fill."

"Then it stands to reason," Jack Sparrow added, "That I am, at this time, the most dashing and clever person on this world as well."

"This is beginning to sound less and less like science, Reed." Tony said, ignoring the pirate's comment, "Besides, what does this have to do with Hellboy having read comics about us thirty years before we even had our abilities."

Reed looked at Tony and smiled, bemusedly, "When you reach these sort of levels of theory, the differentiation between science and magic can be almost impossible. Regardless, the fact that the stories of exploits in our Multiverse exist for Hellboy in his long before the present time means that perhaps the roles are what allow us to interact as they put each Multiverse on the same level when dealing with each other."

"How often does that happen?" Wasp asked.

"More often than you might think." Dr. Richards replied, "Interaction between Multiverses actually leaves a residue on those who are involved. I detected this residue on the Avengers after your meeting the Justice League and it matched my readings of the Leaguers themselves. Since then, I have detected this residue on Spider-Man, Punisher, Wolverine, and others that does not correspond with that of the Justice League's dimension. I believe that we have been interacting with alternate Multiverses for quite some time and simply don't recall these encounters."

Silence dominated the room as Reed went back to his research. After a long moment, Iron Man spoke up. "We need to isolate the patterns of Hellboy and the pirate..."

"CAPTAIN!" Hollered Jack, interrupting, "JACK! BLOODY! SPARROW!"

Stark sent an angry glance in the swashbuckler's direction before continuing: "... and determine their home dimension so we can return them home."

"Tony, I can isolate their quantum reality signature with no complications," Dr. Richards said with brow furrowed, "But determining the coordinates from just their signatures would be nearly impossible. Not to mention the fact that I have not been able to isolate the energy that allows for transfer from Multiverse to Multiverse. It would take years to accomplish any one of these feats."

"Dr. Richards, I have always been confident in your ability to do the impossible." Reassured Iron Man, "I am certain that you will manage and I will put Hank Pym and any other scientific minds you might need at your disposal. Until you solve this problem, however, our visitors will have to be confined to the Baxter Building."

Hellboy and Jack instantly began to erupt in disagreement, but the Invisible Woman spoke up before they could fully voice their concern.

"Tony, these men haven't done anything wrong!" She argued, "We can't keep them imprisoned simply because they had the misfortune to fall through some hole in this... Omniverse."

"Susan, no offense," The Director of SHIELD said in tone that, to Sue Richards, sounded condescending, "But we, quite frankly, know nothing about these... individuals. We don't know if they've done anything wrong. And if they aren't willing to remain in the custody of the Fantastic Four, then I have plenty of empty cells aboard the Hellicarrier."

"Can't say I bloody well like the sound of that." Jack Sparrow added.

"Dammit, Jack!" Hellboy admonished before addressing the man on the screen, "Listen, buddy. I don't care who you think you are. The only reason I'm subjecting myself to this whole mess is I have no idea how to get home. But the facts are: I will not be held in custody, you are not my boss, and I don't give a crap whose boss you are, Jack and I are leaving! Now!" He and the pirate began to move towards the door of the room. Sue looked to Mr. Fantastic, Wasp, and Black Widow as they all watched the duo, clearly not willing to take, what appeared to be, decent people into custody during such a confusing moment.

"Not a chance!" Stark growled as his helmet began to click into place, covering his face. Before the process could complete, the screen was empty.

Iron Man was on his way.

For a brief moment, the room was silent. Then, without any warning, a bright blue-white light began to glow in the corner behind Jack and Hellboy. In an instant, the massive red demon grabbed the pirate, causing Jack's hat to fall to the floor, and leapt for the light. As he reached the glow, Iron Man burst into the room, his palms glowing in preparation of a repulsor blast strong enough to take both the dimensional refugees down for the count. The room gained the distinct scent of ozone as his blasts powered up and, after only a moment of hesitation, the Golden Avenger fired.

The moment, however, had been enough for Susan to make up her mind. The entire room shook as Iron Man's repulsor beams slammed into an invisible force field. The field lay just in front of Sue who stood, defiantly, in front of the Hellboy and Jack who had stopped in expectation of being attacked.

"Go!" Invisible Woman yelled back at them as the force of Iron Man's second blast forced her to one knee.

"Tony, stop!" She could hear Reed scream over the deafening noise, "My wife is in there!"

Sue looked back in time to see Hellboy unceremoniously toss Jack Sparrow into the light and start a run in her direction. Looking back to Iron Man, she could see the white-hot glow of the energy conductors in Tony's armor as he increased the power on his beams. Finally, he stopped and pulled his hands back, letting the power build up in order to let loose with a full strength blast. Susan prepared for the onslaught moments before being grasped from behind and suddenly yanked from the place she had chosen to make her stand. Before she knew it, she was falling into the glowing light in the corner held tightly in Hellboy's arms. A sudden impact caused her to close her eyes and lose her bearings. When she was able to again look around, she saw the pirate captain falling several feet below the demon and herself. Sue's battle-honed instincts kicked in immediately and she formed a cushioning field below all three of them, bringing the trio to rest lightly upon the ground.

The situation had improved only slightly.

All around, Sue could hear the roll of automatic fire. She managed to put a force field up around herself and her new traveling companions, but Iron Man's assault had weakened her considerably. She wasn't certain how long she could hold up. As she looked around, she noted two distinct sides to the battle. One was made up of large numbers of men in black, most seeming to be of Asian or Middle Eastern descent. The other side consisted of a handful of men in outfits that, while gaudy, certainly weren't superhero costumes. One of the men from the smaller group was on his way over to the three of them, firing at the men in black as he came with the rest of his group giving him covering fire. He reached the edge of the field and Sue let him in, figuring that, if he was hostile, she should be able to deal with him.

"Where the hell did you folks come from, lady?" He asked her. He was a good-looking man with short blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a suit jacket with no shirt, martial arts pants, and two-toed boots. As she sought an answer, he noticed the fact that bullets seemed to be bouncing off of thin air around them and then looked to see her straining. "That's a neat trick, darling," He added, "But you don't look like you can handle much more."

"Can you get us to cover?" Hellboy asked.

The blond man looked at the demon with an eye of scrutiny for a second and then shrugged. "Of course I can, but we might need your help to get out of this." He gestured for the three of them to follow him and Sue dropped her force field so they could without worrying about running into it. The newcomer lead the way with Jack Sparrow close behind. Sue came next with Hellboy bringing up the rear and using his own body to protect the rest from the spray of bullets.

They made it back to the cover of the small group of men quickly. One of them, wearing a suit with a bow tie, and a sword scabbard across his back called over to the blond man. "You made it!" He said, "Nice job!"

"Of course," Sue's rescuer said, confidently before looking at her with a smirk, "I'm perfect."

The man in the bow tie looked at the three dimensional travelers with a keen eye. After a brief moment he said: "Listen, my name is Dr. Buckaroo Banzai and Perfect Tommy here seems to think that you three can help us take on the World Crime League foot soldiers."

Sue stared at him in confusion and looked to her new travel companions. They seemed to share her confusion.

Dr. Banzai, upon seeing their reactions, added: "And for all our sakes, I hope he's right!"

**End Chapter Two**


	3. Chapter 3

**Crossover**

**Chapter Three**

**Written by J. Donavan Edmond**

"Reed, were you able to record that energy?" Iron Man asked calmly, heat distortion still surrounding his armor.

Reed Richards couldn't answer. He was too stunned by the event which had just taken place in his laboratory. He stared at the half-eaten turkey sandwich that had unceremoniously found its way to the floor and his brow furrowed. She has slipped away from him once again. With everything the Richards' had been through over the last few months, Reed truly believed that he and Sue could make things better between them. When the Civil War had ended, his wife questioned whether or not the two of them could work things out in the wake of all the tragedies that had occurred, but he had never stopped having faith.

"Reed!" Tony Stark called as he approached the scientist.

Richards slipped out of his momentary haze and snapped back, "Damn it, Tony," He spat, "My wife just disappeared from our _Multiverse_, would you mind giving me a moment to compose myself?"

Iron Man stepped close to the scientist; close enough to be imposing but not so close as to seem like an attempt at intimidation. "Reed, please listen," He said grimly as his face plate slid to reveal Tony's face, "I don't know exactly what's going on, but something dangerous is happening. You said that Multiverses periodically meet and, that being the case, there commonly doesn't seem to be any side effects to these incursions. But I can recall three times where the joining of two worlds has nearly caused the destruction of both. Right now we have two... no, three, individuals from different worlds who are jumping from Multiverse to Multiverse without any knowledge of how or why. My instincts tell me that this is an extremely bad situation, possibly for the entire Omniverse. So with all this in mind, I need you to tell me: did you get a reading on the energy signature?"

Reed Richards stared into Tony's eyes for a long, tense moment. Finally, he answered, "This building has been designed to record every energy event that occurs within. Assuming it was on a scale that my instruments can analyze, I should be able to single out that particular one."

"If that's the case," Stark said calmly, "Than can you reproduce it?"

"If it can be analyzed and broken down, than it should be possible to replicate it." Dr. Richards said, "But it won't do us any good unless we were able to determine where they went and without an active quantum reality signature scan, I find it doubtful that we will be able to do that."

"It doesn't matter." Iron Man replied, his face plate falling back into place, "Reed, I need you to replicate that energy as soon as possible, we are going to try to build a device that can take us to another Multiverse." He turned to the two women in the room, Wasp and the Black Widow, "Jan, I'm going to need you to put together a team. Use whomever you think might be best for world-jumping and anyone from the Initiative files. Natasha, I need you to stay here and maintain S.H.I.E.L.D. operations for me. I'm going with Jan's team."

"Tony," interjected Mr. Fantastic, "Without a quantum reality signature, we'll just be sending the team out to random places. I only have one decent signature recorded and the odds that they went there is astronomically against."

"I know that, Reed," Tony said, his usually calm demeanor having returned in full force, "That's why we're going to get some help. We need to contact another group that seems to have at least as much experience as we do on these matters.

"We're going to ask the Justice League for help."

* * *

His polished, steel mask shined like the mirror he was looking into as he approached the leader's central operations. James McCullen XXIV, Laird of Castle Destro, considered his words carefully. He had long been in the business of ensuring the cooperation of egotistical madmen, but this one was different. This leader was far more powerful and capable than Cobra Commander had ever hoped to be and more stable and prudent than Serpentor, which made him more dangerous than both leaders of the Cobra organization. Despite this, Destro found his newest employer to lack something both the Commander and Serpentor both had in abundance: confidence. It was for that reason that the arms dealer had decided to seek out the leader. Destro had discovered an oversight in the nameless man's recruiting tactics and could not allow such a situation to continue. The steel-masked Scot stepped up to the door in which the leader resided and rapped upon it three times. 

"Come on in." Came the voice from inside. Upon seeing his guest, the leader addressed him, "Destro, to what do I owe the honor of your company."

Destro was surprised to hear no sarcasm in the man's voice. Of all the villains from all the realities that this man had managed to recruit, he seemed truly privileged to have met Destro in person. This fact had caused the arms dealer some uneasiness since his arrival. "Indeed," Destro said, "I have concerns over one of your recruits that I would like to discuss with you." Destro paused for a moment before adding, "Incidentally, I was also wondering as to what title I should address you."

"Hmm, I hadn't really thought about that." The leader said, contemplatively, "I don't want to use my real name, you know, just in case. But I haven't thought of something good, yet." He snickered to himself, as if recalling a joke only he knew, "I really should've right off the bat, but I guess I'm getting old. Well, I don't want anything too egotistical like 'Overlord', 'Emperor', 'Mastermind', or some such. 'Leader's' taken, 'Commander' is taken..."

"If I may make a suggestion, sir."

"Absolutely, Destro. Feel free to."

"You seem to be running this organization very much like a business, although one with extreme consequences for failure."

"No less so than some of my old jobs. They only made you wish you were dead."

"I see." Destro continued, further concerned by the leader's ego from his obvious desire for Destro to approve of him, "As I was saying, 'Chairman' might be an appropriate title."

The leader smiled at him in a gesture of true admiration. "You know, Destro, when I recruited you, part of me was concerned that it might be out of some childhood memory of you being this awesome bad-ass dude in a mask. But you have proven that I made the right choice from your universe time and again. I think 'Chairman' is perfect."

"Thank you, sir."

"Who was it you wanted to talk about?" The leader inquired.

"The transforming mechanoid you recruited recently." Destro said, bluntly.

"Oh, Cy-Kill," The leader responded, "What about him?"

"He is incompetent."

The Chairman chuckled, "Yeah, I noticed that too."

"Well, I have encountered transforming mechanoids in the past that were far superior to this 'Cy-Kill' and I though that, should you be able to locate their point of origin, you might be able to recruit one into the organization."

"I know who you're talking about, Destro," The leader said with a wry grin on his face, "They're called 'Transformers' and the nasty ones are called 'Decepticons'."

"If you know of them, why not recruit from their number rather than that fool, Cy-Kill."

"Ah, Destro, Destro, Destro." The leader said playfully, "You don't understand. I _did_ recruit a Transformer."

Destro was confused. He had been careful to meet each and every member of the organization, but the only transforming mechanoid he had happened upon was the ego-maniacal and ridiculous Cy-Kill. He thought for a moment before he replied. "Then this is an individual you wish to keep hidden until needed." He said with calm realization.

"Absolutely!" The Chairman said abruptly, exaggeratedly nodding his head, "You catch on quick, my friend. There are great things to come for you with this collection of malevolence."

"Thank you, sir." Destro said with a light nod. He began to leave before a thought stopped him and he turned to add: "I should have realized that you had enough forethought to bring in a Decepticon to this organization."

The leader merely smiled. "Destro," He said to the steel-faced arms dealer, "I never said I had a Decepticon."

* * *

"Well this is a fine bloody mess you've gotten me into!" Jack yelled above the torrent of gunfire. 

Hellboy ignored him. It was becoming abundantly clear to the demon that, outside the purview of his little specialization, the pirate captain was all but useless. Hellboy pivoted his head to their newest traveling companion: Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman. Seeing her made the crimson crusader smile. Professor Broom would always be given first credit for ensuring that Hellboy didn't grow to be a monstrosity, but Hellboy himself always felt that he learned more about the application of morality from the heroes of the Silver Age of comics. And, despite the fact that it seemed she had been through much since he had last picked up an issue of Fantastic Four, it was an honor for the massive red hero to fight by her side. He turned to their new allies.

When they had encountered the superheroes, Hellboy was immediately convinced that he and Jack would be fine, but that turned out poorly. So when they had ended up in the middle of a firefight, Hellboy figured all three of them were dead. Even now, with one of the gunfighters (Perfect Tommy, Buckaroo had called him) having helped get them to cover, Hellboy was still leery of this small band of oddly-dressed men. Still, there was no way to ensure that Buckaroo Banzai and his men were really the good guys, but Hellboy was pretty certain that the large number of men with automatic weapons who were firing at the small pinned-down crowd were the bad guys.

"So, Doc," Hellboy said, "What's the plan?"

"Well, before you got here," The doctor said over the hail of bullets, "Our plan was to pray for a miracle. You wouldn't happen to be it, would you?"

Hellboy rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "Maybe..." He said, letting the word trail off. He put his hand Invisible Woman's shoulder, "Sue, how are you doing?"

"I'll be all right, Red," She answered, lifting her head weakly, "I just need a couple minutes of rest. Iron Man... he..."

"I know, Susie," Hellboy said, suddenly feeling too familiar with a married woman for his own comfort, "I'll make sure you have the time you need to recover."

Hellboy peeked his head up long enough to get an idea of the area. Their backs were to a shipping receipt area in an industrial park. There were four separate docks, each with a closed mechanical door that appeared only to be activated from the inside. In front of them was a large open area within a razor-wire topped concrete barrier surrounding it. In the only entrance to the walled in area, a number of black sedans blocked any way out with, what Buckaroo had referred to as, World Crime League foot soldiers taking cover behind them. The small group of heroes was pinned down behind a number of large metal crates with only one apparent exit that was blocked by the enemy. Above them, there were a number of wires going to a central pole that contained an electrical transformer. At the right corner of the dock was the grounding wire for the building's electrical system. Hellboy took another look at the men who were firing at him.

There seemed to be almost three-dozen of them behind the cover of the sedans. They all wore black shirts, some long sleeve, others short, and a couple in tank tops. They mostly seemed to be of Asian decent, but a few Occidentals were among their number. They were using a variety of automatic weapons, but nothing larger than a small assault rifle, the vast majority of them utilizing sub-machine guns. In addition, they seemed to be relying more on the sheer output of bullets rather than aiming for one particular point. The spray was dangerous, but decidedly unprofessional. There also seemed to be no leader; no one in particular who stood out from the rest or was giving orders.

Hellboy took another glance around and counted his side's advantages. He narrowed his brow for a moment and then began to give orders. "Jack, when I say go, I need you to shimmy up that cable." He said, indicating the grounding wire, "On the roof of this building, there should be a window of some sort. Break through it and find these doors." He indicated the rolling doors behind them, "There should be a pair of buttons near the door, one green, one red. Push the green button." Captain Jack stared at the demon for a moment before nodding suddenly, indicating that he wasn't sure what was going on, but he was willing to listen to someone who had a plan, "Buck, I need you and your men to give me and Jack cover. When the door opens, I need you to help Susie and get the rest of your guys in there. As soon as everyone is in, close the door."

"What about you?" Dr. Banzai asked wearing a look of concern.

"Don't worry about me." Hellboy said. Seeing that he hadn't assuaged Buckaroo's concerns he added, "Their bullets won't do more than bruise my think hide. I'll be right behind you."

Banzai smiled and nudged one of his men. "See, Reno, the praying helped."

"Alright," Hellboy said as he clicked a speed-loader into place and let the bullets fall into his chambers, "Good luck, everyone." As he snapped the pistol into firing position he added, "Don't get killed."

Hellboy leapt out from behind the shipping crates in the general direction of the corner of the facility. He rolled forward and came up with his pistol aiming up. A split-second passed and the demon could feel small arms fire bouncing off his thick skin as his aim snapped into place. A blast of fire exploded from the barrel of the gun causing the wooden pole that held the transformer to shatter into splinters. The transformer crashed to the ground between Hellboy and the cars the enemy was using for cover. An explosion of sparks showered the car to the right causing the men behind it to duck, exactly as Hellboy had expected. The demon took aim at the car on the left and fired again. The explosive bullet slammed into the gas tank creating a fireball that immobilized the remainder of the foot soldiers. Hellboy then changed his course and ran directly toward the enemy.

"Jack!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Now!" Stopping on his side of the burning car, Hellboy put his back to it and crouched down, facing his allies who were still under cover.

As Buckaroo and his team laid down a spattering of covering fire, Jack Sparrow was already on his feet, voicing his concern over having lost his hat. He hurled himself onto the cable and began to make his way up it; the climb little different than that one might make to get to the higher points on a ship. He shot up the cable faster than Hellboy could have imagined and swung onto the roof with ease.

Hellboy could hear a smattering of gunfire from the recovering criminals as the garage door began to open. Hellboy saw Perfect Tommy peering around a crate, clearly ensuring there would be a long enough opening for the group to make it to the building. Hellboy decided it was time to give them that opening.

The demon placed his hands under the burning car and stood, flipping the vehicle onto it's side. Turning, he saw fear and confusion in the eyes of the gunmen, some of whom reached for to resupply thier ammo from a large cache in the center of the group. Smirking, Hellboy aimed his pistol at the ammo crate, fired, and ducked. The bullet's explosive charge set off the ammo in the cache and bedlam erupted from behind the burning car. Hellboy could hear the surprised screams of the gunmen from behind him and watched as Reno helped Sue under the dock door. Dr. Banzai observed the action near Hellboy with a grin and gave a friendly salute. Hellboy returned the gesture as he heard the squealing tires of several vehicles pulling up behind his cover. Listening for the shouts of police officers, the demon could only hear orders in a language he didn't understand.

Back-up had just arrived for the World Crime League. Hellboy was guessing that they might have brought bigger guns and this didn't bode well for him. He looked to the building and Buckaroo slipped under the rolling door as it slammed shut. The rest of the group had made it to safety and now it was the demon's turn.

Crouching, he slammed his foot into the car, sending it flying back into the gunmen and their new arrivals. He then sprinted towards the building, but rather than trying for the docks, he set his course for the side of the building, hoping there would be a door he could enter. As he neared the edge of the enclosed dock, pain tore through Hellboy's back. His legs faltered and momentum caused the demon's body to roll, coming to an unceremonious stop on his face as his pistol slid away from him. He tried to lift himself up, but found the agony of the multiple wounds along his spine sapped his strength away. Managing only to roll onto his badly wounded back. Hellboy saw a large man with a cigar and a massive .50 caliber machine gun. The demon winced with pain as he tried again to get to his feet, watching the massive gunman calmly walking forward. Hellboy knew that he was highly resistant to damage, but even he could have his flesh stripped away from a weapon of that caliber. The demon's arm came up to block his face as the man with machine gun leveled himself into a stance to fire.

Massive bullets devastated the ground near Hellboy and tore into his body. Screaming anguish enveloped the demon's very being as he howled with pain. He slumped back to the ground and lay still, his every breath a torture as it ripped into his heaving chest. Blood poured into his eyes, nearly blinding the demon. Still, he could see the man with the immense gun approaching him; smell the smoke from his cigar as the wind brought it to Hellboy's nostrils. The man stepped with in a few yards of the demon's shattered form.

"When I was a child," He said, "We had legends of monsters like you. I was never afraid. I wanted to kill them. Tomorrow, when I talk to my Father, I shall tell him I did."

He hoisted the weapon into firing position and Hellboy heard the click of the weapon's trigger being pulled. It erupted once more in the demon's direction, but this time there was no pain. Hellboy watched in astonishment as the massive rounds from the gun bounced harmlessly away from a few inches in front of his face. The gunman's expression changed to one of anger as the cigar fell from his mouth but the weapon continued to fire.

A shape appeared from above Hellboy and leapt at the gunman. The demon watched as Jack Sparrow entered the battle and, deftly dodging around the gun's flaming barrel, proceeded to slice at the strap that kept the huge gun stable on the attacker's body. Suddenly, the man was knocked off balance by the recoil of the weapon and Jack narrowly ducked under the spray of bullets at the man fell to the ground under the strain of trying to keep the weapon steady. As the gun flew from the attacker's grasp, Jack planted his foot into the foot soldier's face and turned to Hellboy.

"I think I changed my mind," He said pointing at the machine gun, "I want one of those."

Hellboy tried to smile, but pain prevented him from doing so.

"Jack , get back here!" Said a voice from behind them. Hellboy turned to see Sue holding a force field in place and managed a smile despite the agony.

"Feeling better?" The demon rasped out.

"I told you I only needed a moment," She said, scolding, "Not a personal sacrifice."

"Heh, thought I was tougher than all that." Hellboy said, trying to get to his feet.

"As did I, my crimson friend." Jack added.

"In case no one noticed," Perfect Tommy said, pointing to the rest of the Crime League troops, "We're not out the woods yet."

"Everyone get around me!" Sue ordered. Everyone approached Invisible Woman, making a circle around her. "Hang on!" She said abruptly as the entire group raised from the ground. Nearly everyone let out startled exclamations, some more crude than others, save for Hellboy and Dr. Banzai, who simply looked on with fascination. The group levitated up high over the building and the demon sighed as he could see the police vehicles that were finally on the way. They floated above the nearby buildings and some of the group became notable uncomfortable.

"Do, ah," Reno asked, staring at the ground below, "Do we really need to go this high?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Nevada," Susan added, causing Hellboy to snicker at the man's last name, "I've done this hundreds of times." She turned to Buckaroo, "So where to."

"New Jersey."

"Yeah, Doc." Answered the man dressed like a cowboy.

Buck stared at him for a moment, blinking in confusion. Finally, coherence arrived. "No, Sydney, not you. We need to _go_ to Trenton, New Jersey."

"Ah." Jersey said, visibly embarrassed.

"Where are we, now?" Sue said, looking down for familiar landmarks.

"Philadelphia," Tommy said with a flirtatious smile to Sue, "We need to go Notheast."

Over the few hours it took for the group to make their way to New Jersey, proper introductions were made. Buckaroo's group was called the Hong Kong Cavaliers and they spoke as though they were more a rock band than a combat team. The only Cavalier that had remained unnamed to the newcomers was Rawhide and the rest of the band seemed very pleased that he was with them leading the demon hero to believe that he might have been gone for some time. The worst of Hellboy's wounds began to heal immediately and, thanks to the medical knowledge of Buckaroo Banzai and New Jersey, the bullets were removed from the demon before the wounds closed. Jersey stared at one of the rounds he removed in awe, but Banzai seemed unfazed by Hellboy's unique physiology.

Hellboy and Sue also had the opportunity to explain their predicament, but Jack still seemed completely confused by their mutual situation. Most of the Cavaliers seemed as confused as the pirate captain, but , again, Banzai only seemed to be very intrigued.

"So, what you're saying," The Doctor said, "Is that there are a limitless number of alternate realities within each of a limitless number of larger alternate realities."

"Well," Sue said, showing only the slightest fatigue, "I don't know the specifics, but many Multiverses have differing qualities. Some might be limitless, but others might only be made up of one dimension."

"This is amazing!" Banzai exclaimed, "I've never conceived of anything like this, but it does explain a lot."

"It does?" New Jersey questioned.

"Of course, Jersey." The Doctor answered, "This means that some of the encounters we've had over the years might have come from someplace else entirely. It answers a lot of questions that I've had about the nature of our universe."

"So who were those guys you were fighting?" Hellboy asked, "You said something about the World Crime League..."

"Yes." Banzai answered, "The World Crime League is the organization run by my arch-nemesis, Hanoi Xan, the man responsible for the death's of my parents. After an adventure we had some time ago where Rawhide, here, was seemingly killed, Xan stole his body in the hopes of using it against me. What they discovered was that Rawhide hadn't died, but in a state of advanced suspended animation. Eventually bringing him out of it, they tried to brainwash him to be our enemy, but I guess the old boy was just to thick-headed for them."

"Yeah, well, I don't think they really knew what they were doin'." Rawhide humbly added.

"Well, that plan having failed," Buckaroo continued, "They decided to use Rawhide as bait and lure us in to kill us. I guess I'm a sucker, cause I took the bait in the hope that one of the best men I've ever fought alongside of was still among the living. We broke into the World Crime League headquarters, busted Rawhide out and escaped. Unfortunately, when we were making our way back to the Cavaliers' tour van, it exploded. We ended up in a running battle between us and the Crime League foot soldiers through Philly that ended up just where you found us."

"It's a good thing we showed up when we did, then." Sue said with a smile.

"Indeed," Jack said warily, " Quite lucky."

The group made their way to Trenton and the Cavaliers' headquarters. Sue landed them on the roof of the building and dissipated the force field. The trip had clearly taken it's toll on her, but she looked better than she had after Iron Man's assault. As for Hellboy, his wounds had almost completely healed and he was only feeling a few aches and pains where the bullets had struck him. Perfect Tommy eyed him.

"You look a little better." He said to the demon.

"Clean livin'." Hellboy chided.

"So, what next?" Asked Rawhide.

Banzai smiled and slapped his right-hand man's arm in a friendly gesture. "I'd like to catch up, but it looks like we might have another problem. You go let folks know that you are among the living and get some rest." The Doctor turned to the rest of the team, "Tommy, you and Reno go about getting another bus. The old one was insured for booby-trapping, so we should be okay. Jersey, go get Doctor Hikita and have him meet our new friends and myself in the lab. Sue, Jack, Hellboy, let's see what we can do to help you out with your little problem."

"Excuse me," Jack Sparrow spoke up, falsely timid, "I was wond'rin' if I could maybe have someone get a little something for me."

"Sure, Jack," Banzai replied, "What do you need?"

"Well, since I don't expect you'll be able to get my hat, I was thinkin' perhaps a bit of rum."

Everyone stared at Jack for a moment as his eyes went from person to person with a wide-eyed, pleading look. Hellboy soon said: "Jack, I really don't think now's the time."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hellboy," Said Buckaroo, "I think we could all use a drink after what we've been through."

"Now that's something useful I can do." Rawhide added, "One bottle of Bacardi coming up."

The Cavaliers each went about their tasks as Dr. Banzai led Hellboy, Jack, and Sue down to the laboratory. The three travelers told the scientist what they could remember from Reed Richard's discussion from earlier. Buckaroo was enthralled by the tale and intrigued by all the possibilities it allowed for. As they rounded the corner to the lab, the three of them saw a familiar sight: a glowing blue energy field emanating from the corner of the room. In front of it, an aged Japanese man was using a variety of sensors to determine the nature of the energy. He turned abruptly.

"Oh, Buckaroo," He said when he saw the scientist, "This just appeared in here, I am trying to read the energy signature, but it is unlike anything I have ever seen."

Banzai narrowed his brow, remembering the details of what he had just been told. "Try reading on a level that no one would ever look for, Doctor Hikita." Banzai said as he ran over to a computer terminal. Hellboy looked to Invisible Woman as a silent comment on the statement and received only a confused shrug from the super heroine.

After a few moments, the Japanese scientist managed to get a reading, "I have it!" He exclaimed, "I can detect some sort of energy."

"It's called a quantum reality signature." Buckaroo announced, "You can use that same reading to see that our three friends here each have a different one and that everything in our universe has the same one." He stopped and looked at the three travelers, "Is this what you saw before?"

The three of them nodded and Hellboy spoke: "This is what I've seen every time, but it's the first time when we aren't in any kind of stress."

"How long does it seem to last?" Banzai asked them.

"I don't really know." The demon responded, "Each time, it seems like it might be the only escape so I don't know if it stays around after we go through."

"Buckaroo!" Hikita suddenly yelled, "I have a fluctuation. I don't know why, but the energy appears to be dissipating."

"Damn!" Hellboy swore, "It would be nice if we could catch a break for a few moments."

"Doctor Hikita, I need you to try to use the information you have to find us." Buckaroo said as he double-checked his sword and gun. He then turned to the three travelers, "This is where we hitch up, I'm coming with you."

"Are you sure we should go?" asked Susan.

"Yes." Hellboy answered, "Whatever is going on, we need to find out who is behind it. If we just stop here, we might never get home, but at least this way we have a shot."

"I agree." Dr. Banzai added, "We need to figure this one out and the only way might be to keep moving. Is everyone ready?"

"I'm not goin'!" Captain Sparrow announced, bringing Hellboy's glare, "Not without me rum!"

Just then, New Jersey and Rawhide, carrying an unopened bottle of rum, entered from behind them. "Jersey," Buckaroo began, "Stay here and help the Doc, he'll explain everything. Rawhide, hold the fort. I'll be back before you know it."

The energy began to visibly wane.

"Let's go!" Said Sue as she leapt into the energy.

"Come on!" Banzai yelled as he followed her.

"Rum!" Sparrow yelled to Rawhide as he ran for the portal, catching a large bottle of Bacardi Gold from Rawhide before he passed into the energy.

Hellboy stared for a fraction of a second. For once, he missed all the insanity of home: the crazy ancient sorcerers; the psychotic undead gods; the ancient unnameable evils. For once, he wished he could just have a monster to punch in the face.

"Ah, crap." He sighed under his breath as he hurled himself into the closing portal.

**End Chapter Three**


	4. Chapter 4

**Crossover**

**Chapter Four**

**Written by J. Donavan Edmond**

Ex'sk'nyr's gaze shot to his left hand as it twitched uncontrollably. He glared at it for a moment until the spasm ceased and then returned his gaze to the rest of the room. The humans didn't notice his outburst, a fact that calmed his ragged nerves. Ex'sk'nyr was beginning to believe that the others were right; perhaps he was insane. It didn't really matter anymore. When the Chairman's plan finally succeeded, Ex'sk'nyr would be free to flay the skin from their bones in return for the tortures he had endured whilst they attempted to "heal" him.

They called themselves, simply "The Race". However, the humans of Earth (and the Chairman, himself) referred to them as "Predators" a name that seemed as apt a description as any. All his life, Ex'sk'nyr had dealt with a species that lived by codes of honor and statutes of responsibility. Theirs was a stratified society built around duty and obligation which, in Ex'sk'nyr's opinion, held them all back. The others couldn't see the truth: the universe was chaos. Nothing truly mattered and, if the hunt was what was important, then hunting the most dangerous of prey should be one's most perfect goal. The xenomorphs provided excellent sport, but the most dangerous prey is that which has no predators.

Ex'sk'nyr changed that. The Predators knew fear from his horrible appetites and could not bare to see an aberration like him survive. After their attempts to repair his damaged psyche, the murderer made his escape to Earth; a favorite world for the firsthunt of many younglings. However he was pursued by those of his species until he found himself contacted by the Chairman.

A human man of unimaginable power who offered the mad hunter a deal: "Work for me for a short time and I will give you an entire universe to bathe in blood."

It took Ex'sk'nyr all of five seconds to make his choice.

With the Chairman, Ex'sk'nyr was given the job of escorting new recruits in their first tour of the base of operations. His presence unnerved most people, a fact that the Predator found somewhat comforting. Some, however, seemed completely unfazed by the strangeness of the surroundings and the inhabitants within.

As an example of the latter: the human woman Ex'sk'nyr had just lead to meet the Chairman in the dining hall. She has no negative reaction to the Predator's form, whatsoever; a glance, a curl on the side of her ugly human mouth, and a step in the direction she was to have been lead.

By the glances the woman received from the others, the alien hunter was quite certain that he was the only one that found her unattractive. The other human males stared at her; her masses of uncovered, soft, weak human flesh, her curved form and the way she moved her posterior from side to side as she walked, the long, silken strands of dead cells that she swished from side to side, and her hideous mouth. Her form was clearly pleasing to Ex'sk'nyr's temporary allies.

There was certainly no accounting for taste.

He stood back from the assembled greeters when he had taken the woman to the Chairman. The spasms were disconcerting and they were definitely getting worse, but the Predator was certain that the leader of the band could help with that again. The Chairman could clear the muddled mind of the hunter; helping to make his thoughts lucid for the first time in Ex'sk'nyr's existence. He could wait for a few moments more. For now, he watched.

The woman, Umar, she had been called, spoke with the leader in a manner that confused the Predator. They lightly touched each other in strange ways, their body language drawing Chairman and Umar together as though they might be preparing to mate. A pang struck Ex'sk'nyr as he thought about the fact that he would never have the pleasure of a mate and watched two humans prepare for the dance of procreation. A spasm struck his hand again, causing him to react by thrusting it forward, an action that caused everyone around him to take notice.

Several of the humans made statements to the Chairman, but he held his hands up in a calming gesture and said something to them in the muddled language of the humans. The Predator wished for his helmet so he would have a chance for translating the words of these weaklings. He could taste their fear of him; imaging the tearing of their supple flesh between his mandibles. As the leader walked toward him, Ex'sk'nyr realized how easy it would be to crush his skull in giant alien hands. He made his decision, then. Just seconds before the man's hand touched the Predator's shoulder.

"Be calm, my friend." The Chairman said in the alien's mind, "Relax. Let my voice through the madness."

The red thoughts of blood and hate seeped away and the Predator opened his eyes. He watched the man, his savior, as he calmly spoke to the others. He then looked into Ex'sk'nyr's eyes. "Don't worry, my friend." His telepathic voice told the alien, "You'll have your body count very soon."

At that moment, a number of the others ran into the room, saying something in concerned voices. They showed the Chairman a number of readings on a series of portable screens. At first, he seemed calm about whatever news he had been brought, but, as their explanation continued, he stood to his full height and his eyes opened wide. He began to shout orders to the others, Umar, included and requested the presence of the one called Brainiac. Then, as he was about to leave the dining hall, the Chairman stopped and addressed the Predator once more.

"You might get your massacre even sooner than I thought." His voice said grimly in the creature's mind.

* * *

The team was falling apart, that much was becoming abundantly clear. Leonardo took stock of the rag-tag group of adventurers who had fallen together through chance. Red Arrow was very much the hero, but he often questioned Leo on tactical decisions and acted impulsively. The zombie martial artist called Liu Kang was usually reliable, if prone to brutality, except for those moments where he would completely zone out, as though his body wasn't working completely. The Bowler was also quite heroic, but she seemed to have a lack of confidence in her own experience, which held her back. Unfortunately, the ninja turtle worried that he might not be the right man to lead the team. He had always been the leader when it had just been him and his brothers. He was the most reliable of the four of them and could always be counted on by their mentor, Master Splinter. 

In this situation, however, Leonardo was beginning to think that his leadership skills might be sorely taxed. Especially since he had no idea what was going on.

Three days ago (or at least what seemed to amount to three days ago, at least), he had fallen through a glowing portal while battling ninja soldiers of the Foot Clan. He wound up in a place called Champion City where he soon encountered a group of heroes called the Mystery Men. He joined them in fighting off a horde of mutated criminals and, the moment the battle was ended, another bluish-white portal appeared and the Bowler had accidentally fallen into it with the turtle while trying to get a better look. From there, they had encountered Liu Kang as he fought off a massive, four-armed creature. The Bowler had instinctively attacked the monster before getting a good look at the rotting, animated corpse it was fighting. After quickly establishing that Kang was the good guy, they defeated the creature only to have the tower they were in begin collapsing. Another portal allowed them to escape, but they found themselves in the middle of a battle, once more. On one side were a hand full of gaudily adorned superheroes and on the other, a talking gorilla and a horde of mutated animals. The three helped the heroes defeat the gorilla and described what was happening with the. Before they could determine any sort of plan, another portal opened. One of the superheroes, called Batman, ordered the archer Red Arrow to join them, informing them all that he should be able to track them.

Unfortunately, everything had gotten worse from there. The portal had lead to a world besieged by deadly killer robots. Each of the four of them had utilized their skills to survive the short amount of time, according to Leonardo, until a new portal appeared. Days had gone by and they had seen no portal. By the end of the first day, Leo and Bowler feared that they might be stuck there. Arrow had been confident, however, that his team would find them and rescue them. At the end of the second day, they had found a small group of survivors who offered the heroes a place to hide. The world was hell on Earth and the four strangers had been deposited there without ceremony. Leonardo had originally fallen into his common team role, but he was now being questioned by the others and, frankly, he couldn't blame them for doing so.

He eyed each of his unlikely teammates.

The Bowler used an old rag to wipe marks from the ball that, according to her, held her father's skull. She wore a black vinyl outfit and platform boots, both of which had been damaged and torn in the days since Leo had met her. Her hair was black and she wore dark eyeliner around her brown eyes. She carried her trademark weapon in a modified bowling bag which had a number of other useful gadgets incorporated. She had telepathic control over the movements of her bowling ball, Carmine, and could use it to do incredible feats. Leonardo had learned to respect her abilities, even if she still seemed unsure.

Clearly undead, Liu Kang was also an absolute master of several variations of Kung Fu, including Jun Fan and Pao Chui, having incorporated these and other disciplines into a variation of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. What seemed even more incredible was that Kang could perform feats of martial arts that Leonardo had only ever heard legends of. The undead master could fire balls of fire and fly through the air with ease. However, he was also at least slightly unhinged. On occasion, he seemed to have spells where he would black out. It had only happened once during a battle, but it had unnerved everyone. Worse, he was often far more deadly in combat than Leo thought necessary, a fact that seemed to concern Red Arrow most of all.

Wearing an outfit that looked like a crimson version of Errol Flynn's Robin Hood, Red Arrow was to archery what Liu Kang was to Kung Fu. He could accomplish any feat of marksmanship with ease and had impressed everyone with his capabilities. To further his potancy, he carried a series of special arrows and was superb at replacing these arrows with materials at hand. Despite his humble weapon, Red Arrow was a virtual walking arsenal.

Despite their competence, the personalities of the group were not completely in sync. Bowler seemed concerned over her usefulness with three incredibly well-trained individuals to compare to. Red Arrow seemed to rely too much on luck and faith in his companions than on his own immense skills. Kang was, to put it bluntly, probably going mad.

And Leo was beginning to think he might be close behind him.

Trapped on this ruined Earth, with only the barest hope of escape, Leonardo though of his family. His three turtle brothers and the rat that had trained them in the art of ninjitsu had been through many adventures together. For a time, Leo had left New York City to train in the jungles of South America, but upon his return, he realized that he had made a mistake trying to make a go of it alone. The team was what was important; the family; and Leo had forgotten that. Now, he was alone again and found himself feeling it as it gripped the center of his being. He might never see his brothers again. He might die among strangers on a world where humanity was completely subjugated by a malevolent artificial intelligence.

Leo hung his head.

"I don't freaking believe it!" He heard the Bowler say in astonishment.

He turned towards her to see that she and Arrow were staring at the wall behind him. He also noticed a bluish glow that painted them and the wall behind them. Snapping his head around, Leo saw the glow of a portal similar to the one that had started this whole adventure. He stared at it in disbelief.

"So, should we go?" Red Arrow asked.

"I'm not sure." Bowler responded, "Do you think it goes home?"

"Who's home?" Leo asked. He thought for a second and then stood and faced the other three in the group, "It doesn't matter." He said, answering his own question, "We have to keep moving. We have to see this to the end. If you don't want to go, I understand, but I am making that leap. I need to know what this is all about."

For a moment, there was silence. Finally, the Bowler stood, "I'm with you, Leo." She said, confidently, "We need to keep going."

"Yeah," The archer added, "Plus, I'm not so keen on all the killer robots."

The three of them looked at Liu Kang. The dead martial artist stared forward blankly. Bowler stepped in front of him and waved her hand across his field of vision. There was no response.

"I don't think he's going." She said, turning to Leonardo.

Leo thought for a moment before finally making a decision. "We don't know how long that portal will be there and I don't know if I want to try carrying Liu Kang considering what I've seen him do to enemies." He glanced at the portal, saw it begin to shrink, and looked at his allies, "We need to go now."

Red Arrow and the Bowler looked at each other and then at Liu Kang. "He's right." Arrow said glumly, "We have to leave him here."

"Unless he snaps out of it before the door closes." Bowler said, eying the undead warrior.

"Hopefully he will." Leonardo said as he ushered his allies into the glowing light. Taking one last look at the master of Kung Fu, Leo considered throwing the rotting hero over his shoulder and leaping through. Quickly remembering the last few trips from universe to universe, and considering the connotations of such an action, he thought better of it and leapt through the shrinking bluish light.

* * *

There was a man who was wearing red and gold powered armor and was about to punch Karen Starr, often known as Power Girl in the face. 

It had been that kind of morning.

First, the report that Roy Harper, also known as Speedy, Arsenal, and most recently, Red Arrow, had joined a small band of heroes who were traveling from Multiverse to Multiverse on the orders of Batman, a fact that made everyone in the community quite uncomfortable. Next, there was the fact that the Justice League followed up their encounter with the travelers by going off into space to deal with a delicate situation between the planet Rann and the Khunds, leaving the Justice Society to deal with anything problems that might come up on Earth. Lastly, the Avengers, a group of heroes from an alternate Multiverse, arrived in New York City and began to demolish the nearby property.

The Society was called in to deal with the raging heroes and the operation was going poorly. There were only five of them. Power Girl had skimmed the files on the Avengers, but had never really looked at the details and, therefore, could not remember all of the names of the five members that were present. The one streaking towards the buxom powerhouse with his fist seeping excess energy was called Iron Man, despite the fact that there was simply no way his armor was made out of iron. Besides him, there was the woman who was the size of a bug, had wings, and could fire stunning bolts of energy and a green-skinned woman who was immensely strong, both of whom, Power Girl was certain, had been encountered when the Justice League had battled the Avengers. The other two; a young man with telekinetic abilities and a Superman-level man in a blue cape; Karen believed were new.

Unfortunately, they were very powerful and they were in the process of taking the Society apart.

Sand, Dr. Mid-nite, Mr. Terrific, Stargirl, Cyclone, and the Wildcats were all very capable heroes, but they seemed to lack the raw power needed to take on the five assembled extra-dimensional heroes. However, the Society members were trained to work together by the greatest heroes of all time and outnumbered.

As Iron Man's energy-clad fist flew through the empty space where Karen had been, she was already calling orders to the team.

"Ted! Tommy! Use maneuver Beta-Gamma on the telekine!" She said as she kept an eye on her armored sparring partner, "Cyclone! Catch insect girl in your wind! Sand! Mid-nite! Keep the cape disoriented! Terrific!" She didn't have to finish that last order. She knew that Micheal Holt had a handle on his side of things.

"Stargirl!" Mr. Terrific yelled to the former novice who had come into her own, "When I say 'now'!" Before adding, "You okay, Karen?"

"I've got this guy!" She said to the prodigy hero. Power Girl turned toward Iron Man who was already rushing her for another attempted strike. Again, she deftly moved out of his way, but she followed her dodge up with a grab to his boot. Karen quickly crushed the rocket on the heel of the boot and then let go. The armored Avenger was sent spinning into the nearest building and then crashed to the ground. Calculating the property damage in her mind, Power Girl then looked back to her allies to access who needed help the most.

She watched as the younger Wildcat, who could a humanoid cat creature with razor sharp claws, sliced at the face of the telekinetic man. The Avenger dodged the talons, but ended up right in the path of the elder Wildcat's massive fist. One solid blow was enough for the former boxer to take the youngest of the other-universal heroes out of the fight.

Cyclone was dealing with the wasp woman (Wasp! That was her name!) with relative ease, but the tiny Avenger was still attempting to strike the young Society member with her sting. Micheal had managed to distract the powerful green woman long enough for Stargirl to stun her with a powerful blast from her cosmic rod. Sand and Dr. Mid-nite used their respective abilities to disorient the Superman-like Avenger, but they were swiftly losing their advantage as he adapted to their abilities.

"Clear the way, gentlemen!" Karen announced to them.

As they leapt aside, she angled forward and flew at full speed towards the cape-clad warrior. Although he was still surrounded by blinding blackout gas and a raging sandstorm, the man turned to face Power Girl as she made her charge. She narrowed her eyes and felt the release of the incredible stores of power she held within her as twin beams of pure, superheated energy exploded from her solar-powered irises. The blast too the Avenger by surprise, the impact staggering him for a moment. She followed her heat ray attack with a massive fist to the cheek of the caped man. The blow sent him careening into a nearby bus that had been emptied when the battle had begun. Power Girl instantly began surveying the rest of the battlefield.

Then something very strange happened.

Power Girl suddenly stopped caring how her friends were faring. She stopped caring about the fact that the city was being attacked by heroes from another reality and she stopped caring about the location of Red Arrow. The values that had dominated her life for as long as she could remember were no longer important. All that mattered was causing as much destruction as possible before finding her new master. Before finding...

Despero.

Karen shook off the mind control that threatened to overtake her mind and turned her gaze on her teammates and their sparring partners. All of them had confused looks on their faces. Whatever force had enhanced the mind-controlling villain named Derpero to the point where we could control people without being in their presence, he had managed to overextend it and was now faced with a baker's dozen of superheroes who were all very irate at having been used.

"Depsero!" Power Girl shouted, "Show yourself!"

"Well, well," The magenta-skinned alien said as he stepped out from his cover on a rooftop, "Perhaps a sought too lofty a goal. Still, my mind is not the only weapon I have at my disposal." With that, he leapt from the roof directly at Karen. She prepared for the impact, but none came as a yellow and blue streak intercepted him. Power Girl watched as the Avenger whose abilities she had compared to Superman's flew into orbit with the villain in his grasp.

"Sentry!" Screamed the Wasp in vain, "Get back here!" When it was clear she couldn't be heard, she added: "Damn it!"

"I wouldn't worry about Despero, Wasp," Power Girl said with a sly smile, "He can take a lot of hurting."

"The last time Sentry took someone into orbit," Iron Man retorted, "He tore them in half."

The Society members all winced at this, but Karen stood strong. "Despero's come back from worse." She realized that she had to get to the true issue at hand quickly and changed the subject, "So what brings you here?"

"We have a problem that might involve your multiverse." Said Iron Man calmly, "By the way, you are..."

Karen quickly gave introductions and received them in turn, learning that the green woman was She-Hulk and the telekinetic was Justice. When Sentry returned with a subdued Despero, the two teams adjourned to the Justice Society Mansion, where a team met them to take the villain into custody. Once everyone had settled in the meeting room, the two groups shared their stories, everyone showing concern in the similarities.

"When did this happen?" She asked the armored Avenger.

"Hellboy and Jack arrived nearly three days ago." He said, his faceplate up, "It took some time to devise a portal that would allow us to travel here."

"When you came to our universe before, you used the power of one of your members, didn't you?" Mr. Terrific asked.

"Yes." Wasp replied, her head dropping slightly, "Unfortunately there were... complications with her. We no longer have access to her abilities."

"Understood." Power Girl said, leaving the matter to rest. It was clear, in talking to the Avengers, they had been through much since they fought and then allied with the Justice League and Karen had no desire to make it worse. In fact, the League, the Society, the Teen Titans, and all the other heroes of their universe had been through much as well. When she last encountered the heroes from the Avengers' Earth, she had no clue as to the true origin of her abilities. Now, she was the last survivor of a dead parallel reality and she, despite the possibility of crushing loneliness, she felt more whole than she ever had. Still, much of what had gone on in the past two years was painful, so Power Girl could empathize with the Avengers' unwillingness to go into detail about events. "Well, we need to get our friend back and you need the same, so I think we could work together."

"No offense, ma'am," Iron Man said, "But we were hoping to find the League to help us deal with this."

"Oh, well they're off-world dealing with a volatile situation between two galactic empires." Karen said in her best calm-but annoyed voice, "However, I can assure you that the Society is, perhaps, better suited for a joint operation such as this."

"Again, I apologize, but I really think that the League might have the best resources for this." The armored hero insisted.

"Tony," Wasp interceded, "If the League is off-world, then we clearly can't work with them. The Justice Society seems incredible well-equipped and capable."

"Jan, I..." Stark began to argue before being cut off.

"Remember, Tony," The Wasp said grimly, "You put me in charge of this mission and if it weren't for my leadership, Ultron would still be using you to try on garter belts. We are guests!" She emphasized each word of her last sentence.

Iron man glared at Wasp for a long moment and then snapped his vision to Power Girl before conceding. "I'm sorry," He said, "Of course. I have been very rude. The situation is... well... we don't know what it is and it... frustrates me. I am very sorry."

"Apology accepted, Iron Man." Power Girl said as she thrust her hand out. As the armored Avenger shook it, she looked to Wasp, "So, how are we going to save the Omniverse?"

* * *

"Am I mistaken," Jack said as his blade cut through the neck of another zombie, "Or is this not where we started?" 

"Just keep fighting!" Hellboy said as he smashed in an undead skull.

"They have to be coming from somewhere!" Buckaroo announced, his katana cutting a swathe through rotting animated flesh, "We have to figure out how to stop the controller!" Banzai indicated the undead being on the hill, wearing a leather vest, sunglasses, a bandanna, and an ugly, spiked mullet. This being had been clearly controlling the creatures they had been fighting and seemed intent on ensuring the death of the heroes, most likely hoping to create a few very powerful enslaved undead in the process.

Hellboy looked around for a brief moment before pulping another corpse's head with his massive stone right hand. "Where's Susie?" He hollered to the others.

"Doesn't matter, traitor," Taunted the zombies' controller, "You'll be joining her real soon! Then I'll have me a bona fide Benedict Arnold demon traitor corpse to add to my collection!" He rubbed his decaying chin for a moment, "Actually, all four of you are pretty bad ass, I might have to call in some favors and get myself a goddamn elite zombie hit squad. Only fitting for a guy calls hisself 'King Zombie'. Ain't I right?"

Jack was finally beginning to worry. The first day on this world, dead center in the middle of a forest, he was simply bored. The other three seemed to know a little more about what was going on, but still couldn't figure out what to do about it. His theory, at first was to sit tight and wait for another glowing door to appear. After half a day of this, he ran out of the nearly flavorless liquid that he had been told was rum. Soon thereafter, his tactics changed. Jack determined, using is infallible skills of leadership learned through many years of captaining on the high seas, that heading out and finding civilization would be their best bet, especially if that civilization had more rum (preferably of an improved quality).

Much to the self-admitted pirate's surprise, the other three agreed with him again. Jack was beginning to think that they might be learning to respect his obvious qualities of leadership and his keen strategic mind. However, it soon became clear that his companions cared nothing for the possibility of finding decent rum, a travesty on god and nature, to be certain. After almost two days of travel, the quartet finally came within view of a town.

Which, of course, was when the walking dead attacked.

And now, here they were, fighting for their lives with the most powerful one of them no where to be found. Captain Jack's eye twitched at the thought of Sue Richards being devoured by the undead. He had come to respect her, and the rest of his accidental companions, a great deal. Should anything happen to any of them, Jack was certain he would feel great remorse as he left them behind.

He looked again to the creature on the hill; King Zombie, it called itself. The monster was grinning through a lipless mouth like a fiend. His black glasses seemed to mock the assembled heroes from it's reflection of their plight. Jack didn't like this particular king one bit.

"No!" Came a female voice from on the hill, behind the zombies' master. He turned, the zombie army temporarily losing some of it's unity as their controller was distracted, "You are most certainly not right!" Sue said as she became visible immediately in front of where he now faced.

"Neat trick, frail," King Zombie said condescendingly, "But you don't fk with me!"

Suddenly, a horde of zombies that were yet to be engaged ran up the hill and assaulted Susan's position. Their attack was to no avail: Sue had erected a force field and she was more than capable of holding off the claws of hungry undead. She gestured at the king of the zombies.

"Can you feel?" She asked him, "Can you feel that inside your head?"

The creature was visibly taken aback as he reeled with his head in his hands. "Yes, goddamn it, yes!" He screamed, "I can feel it!"

Taken by surprise at his reaction, Sue instinctively pulled back. At the moment she did so, the zombie leader pulled out a pistol and fired at her head. "But you ain't gonna feel nothin' real soon!" He mocked.

The smoke cleared and the Invisible Woman stood defiant, unharmed by the huge bullet from the undead leader's massive gun.

"I think King Zombie is a stupid name." She said, coldly as she expanded her hand quickly. The monster's head exploded, sending rotten blood, brains, and bits of skull everywhere, "And I call myself 'The Invisible Woman." Almost immediately the zombies broke off their attack. Some of them still struggled to bite into the skulls of the heroes, but most of the horde simply wandered away in differing directions. Jack looked down at the pair of sunglasses on the ground.

"Miss?" He said to the woman on the hill, "Remind me not to piss you off."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Jack," The woman said as she floated to the rest of them on an invisible forcefield and then surrounded all of them in the same kind of field, "You're not trying to kill my friends."

A blue-white glow began to emanate from a nearby tree. The four heroes looked at it and then each other.

"S' about bloody time!" Jack cursed.

"You know," Sue said in response, "There are probably people on this world that could use our help."

"Whatever is going on," Dr. Banzai reasoned, "It's bigger than just one world."

"Sue," Hellboy said as he put his hand on her shoulder and leaned down to look at her eye to eye, "We haven't seen anyone alive since we arrived here. In fact, the only living things we've found were the squirrels and chipmunks we've been living off of. For all we know this could be a completely dead world where zombie armies fight each other for control. We have to keep moving, if only to find out exactly what is happening."

"I know, Red," She said glumly, "I just wish..."

"In the face of horror," Jack said with a cock-eyed grin, "All you can think about is how you can help people. What does that make you?"

"It makes her a hero, Captain." Buckaroo answered.

Sue Richards looked up, here eyes watery but a weak smile on her face, "It makes us all heroes."

She turned and leapt into the portal, quickly followed by Dr. Banzai, and then Hellboy. Jack stood for a moment as he watched them disappear.

"And it means I still haven't had any decent rum." He muttered to himself before following.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean 'they opened again'?" The Chairman blared, "I thought you said you had stopped the rogue portals!" 

"Ja, mien liege," Dr. Chromedome said through gritted teeth, "But it has happinked again. Ve do not know vhy or how dey are appearink, but dey are, unt ve haf been unable to prevent dese anomalies from reoccurink."

The leader of the group, who had recently announced that he should be referred to as "The Chairman", glared at the scientist for a moment. Dr. Chromedome had been confused since he had arrived. For one thing, the stakes had been dramatically raised in this new venture. Before, under the employment of Chairface Chippendale, the worst thing that seemed to be able to happen was capture and temporary incarceration by any of the City's inept-but-lucky superheroes. Given the opportunity for great wealth and power, Chromedome leapt at the chance to join with other villains in other Multiverses in order to conquer everything everywhere. Now, it seemed possible, even likely, that he could be killed; not only by the heroes who had now found a way to gather together and were surely coming to stop them, but from some of his extremely vicious allies.

For the first time in his career as a mad scientist, Chromedome wished to hear the battle cry of "Spoon!" He wouldn't mind being hit in the face by a massive blue idiot if it would ensure he could stay alive.

The Chairman rubbed a finger up and down the center of his forehead for a long, tense moment. Finally, he said: "Fine, then we deal with these damn heroes." He turned to his communications console, "Brainiac!" He yelled into it.

"I am already here, sir." The robot said coldly as he rounded the corner.

"Chromedome," The leader said, turning to the mad scientist, "How many disturbances... total?"

"Three, mien liege." He replied quickly, not liking where any of this was going.

"Okay, Brainiac, get three of the more leader-types of the brawn." He brought up a matrix of the villains on a display screen, "Sam Haight, Khan, Davy Jones, Scorpion King; any of those guys should work. Have them put together a team from any universe we have access to and then send them to the locations of the dimension-hoppers. Orders are to kill anyone who gets in their way.

"No deathtrap?" Chromedome asked, appalled.

"Not this time, Doctor." The Chairman replied stoically.

"Hardly sporting..." The mad scientist muttered under his breath.

Ignoring him, Brainiac addressed the leader: "Sir, may I make a suggestion?"

"Certainly, Brainiac, what's on your mind?"

"Sir, our magical contingent seems to have hit a barrier they cannot overcome." The silver-skulled automaton informed, "In addition, any research into combining the scientific and mystical aspects of this job have been in vain."

"Okay, so what's your solution?" Asked the Chairman.

"In my Multiverse, there are several very capable magicians of great power and skill."

"Yes, but you know I can only maintain one individual from each Multiverse in this place or the balance will go to shit."

"Indeed," Brainiac continued, "Unfortunately, without additional assistance, I fear this project will take much longer and it seems we have been given a time table. I offer to lead one of the teams against the heroes. In fact, I recommend that we only send one powerful member of our group against each one of their groups. We can be certain to maintain those who already have a stake in this."

The Chairman looked at the robot with concern. "Are you sure, Brainiac, that you want to go and have someone else take your place?"

"I believe it is necessary." The emotionless voice informed, "I am confident that, in succeeding in this venture, you could still manage to grant me a single universe within my Multiverse in which to rule."

"Good point, Brainy." The leader said with a small amount of whimsy.

"In addition, the recent recruit, Umar?"

"Yeah." The leader said, unable to anticipate where this was going but clearly concerned.

"She seems to be somewhat inept in the workings of mysticism. For certain, she has great power, but she seems to have come by this through birthright, not through training."

"I was worried about that." The leader admitted.

"However, there is another in that universe that has mastered both mystical and scientific arts." Informed the robot, "In fact, he has merged them as a seamless whole in the past."

"I know who you're talking about, Brainy. I worry about his ego."

"His ego is a moot point," The robot said, nearly reaching a slyness to his artificial vocal quality, "If you know what to offer."

The Chairman looked at the robot for a moment before realization dawned on him. His eyes narrowed as he smiled giving him a distinctly evil quality as he announced his orders: "Brainiac, have Bendix contact your man. Whoever you think is best, we'll bring him in. Chromedome, I need you to have Ming wipe Umar's mind and then send her back to Universe #000119. Then, I need you to contact an individual called Victor von Doom. Inform me as soon as you have contact."

"Right avay, mien liege!" Chromedome said, saluting and turning to leave.

The leader looked at the robot, his grin never fading, "I want to make this deal personally. Brainy, once you have the mystic, I need you to leave immediately. Send the predator after one group. I'm beginning to worry about his stability, here. Don't send Khan."

"As you wish, sir." Brainiac said.

Chromedome could hear the metallic footsteps of the automaton behind him. Something about the way the robot walked and the way he was treated by the Chariman began to prey on his mind.

Perhaps Brainiac was more than a simple machine.

The thought scared the mad scientist to the bone.

**End Chapter Four**


	5. Chapter 5

**Crossover**

**Chapter Five**

**Written by J. Donavan Edmond**

"So," The Londoner said as he took a long pull from his cigarette, "You think of anythin' else we need to do?"

"Listen, John," The larger man said leaning across the café table, "I can't thank you enough. If you hadn't told me about..."

"Hush up, mate," The man called John cut him off, "Can't be too careful. We don't know who's listnin'." He stubbed out his cigarette and then pointed his finger at the man across the table from him, "Me bein' me, I can't stay off the radar, but you bloody-well can. This blighter doesn't know about you or, more precisely, 'e doesn't think you're a threat to him. You don't register to him n' the longer you can keep it that way, the better."

The younger man smirked at the middle-aged Brit, "You saying I get a code name?"

"There's a reason people have 'em." John said, reaching into his pocket for his cigarettes but thinking better of it, "So, have a good one?"

"Pseudonym." The man said without hesitation.

John smirked at this. It was a rare thing to happen to him, but in this circumstance, he was getting used to being on new ground. Of course, the only reason the Brit had no experience with this particular insanity was because it had never happened before, or at least insofar as anyone could remember. True to form, John had tripped into the information that let him know what was happening, probably thanks to his unique place in the Omniverse. He had happened upon something very strange: a being who had access to great power gathering villains from across realities. The enemy was very good at keeping quiet and if it hadn't been for the fact that his efforts were breaching time as well as the walls of Multiverses, John might never have been able to determine what was happening.

And, upon knowing what was going on, he was able to figure out what to do about it.

Now, he sat across from the individual who might be the only one who could stop the hidden foe. Still, he couldn't do it alone. The pair of them had set in motion events that could possibly put an end to the villain's machinations, but they had to be subtle about it. Any sign that they were onto the enemy, and the entire Omniverse could be thrust completely into chaos. The delicate nature of all realities had already been put off balance, all John could do is do his best to ensure it didn't get worse.

He smiled at the man across the table. "Works for me." He said as he stood up, "Call me 'Zero'."

"Done, Zero," The man called Pseudonym said as he rose and extended his hand. His face suddenly grew serious, "When will I have to get involved directly?"

"Don't know." Zero said grimly, "Maybe never, but that seems unlikely."

"Thanks again, Zero." The best hope for the Omniverse said to the man who had informed him that was so, "If I need to find you, I'll know how."

With that, he left the café and turned the corner. John stood for a moment, watching where he had gone. Pseudo might be the best hope for the universe, but he wasn't the last. Pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his coat, the investigator stepped out into the street.

He had some favors to call in.

* * *

"So, Socrates, what do you think?" The cowboy said with a half smile, "More time travelers?"

Buckaroo Banzai's eyebrows raised when he heard this. He glanced over toward his allies with a look of confusion which was mirrored by all of them. He turned back to the trio of of Nineteenth-Century San Franciscans to find that his reaction had been noticed.

"That's it, isn't it?" The man in the tan coat said as he approached Buckaroo, "You guys are from the future, aren't you?

"That's complicated." Sue spoke up.

"Yeah," The massive black man wearing a bowler hat said as he stepped into a threatening position in Hellboy's, "Well, how 'bout you give us the short version."

Hellboy looked down at the large man who was still dwarfed by the demon's immense form, "Maybe you'd better calm down before someone gets hurt."

Dr. Banzai took a step forward, interceding himself between Hellboy and the dark-skinned cowboy, "Gentlemen, please!" He pleaded, "We're all civilized here and we're all a little bit stressed. If we could all just sit down and relax for a moment, we could explain everything to our new friends."

Buckaroo was being more hopeful than anything. Upon appearing on the streets of San Fransisco in the decade before the turn of the Twentieth Century, the dimension-lost quartet was almost immediately corralled by a pair of men dressed in eccentric cowboy outfits. They lead the four heroes into an alley way and behind several shops. The smaller, lighter-skinned man explained that they couldn't be seen as they went. Eventually, they ended up in the office of a lawyer named Socrates Poole, where they now found themselves. Banzai was confident that the three individuals could be allies, but with everyone's tension in high gear, it would take some calm diplomacy to prevent an incident.

"Sorry about my friend here." The white cowboy said, "You're right, we should all just relax and have a seat." He directed his last few words at the black man through gritted teeth.

"Great," Dr. Banzai said, extending his hand, "I'm Buckaroo Banzai."

The smaller of the two cowboy's met Banzai's hand with his own, "Brisco County, Jr." He indicated the lawyer who stood behind them, "That's Socrates Poole and this fella goes by the name of Lord Bowler."

Bowler took off his hat, still wary of the newcomers, "Pleased to meet you."

Hellboy stepped forward and offered his hand to Bowler, "Name's Hellboy." He said as the dark-skinned cowboy shook his hand.

"Sue Storm, The Invisible Woman." Sue announced, taking the hand of Brisco and then quickly moving on to the other two.

"And this," Buckaroo announced, indicating the pirate who had been sulking behind him, "This is Jack Sparrow."

Jack mumbled something that seemed to contain the words "captain" and "rum" as well as a number of well-placed curses. Everyone simply ignored his complaints and, soon, the story of where the strange quartet had come from was laid out. To Buckaroo's surprise, Brisco seemed able to follow many of the details and further proved his wit by asking several intelligent questions about the situation, one of which, there was no answer.

"So why is all of this happening?" The bright cowboy queried, "Why are holes in reality opening up an sending people to other realities? There has to be a reason."

"I agree," Hellboy said, "And I think we're all getting a little tired of being jerked around."

"What else can we do?" Sue reasoned, "We need to find out why this is happening and the best bet is to keep moving in the hopes that we can find someone or something useful in one of our trips."

"What about not going through the portal?" Brisco asked.

"We thought about that," Banzai responded, "But if there is someone behind this, how will we find out who if we don't keep looking?"

"Maybe he'll find you." Lord Bowler said, his first sentence since the discussion began.

Everyone in the room looked at him in confusion and he took this as a chance to explain his point. "If someone is messing with you and you stop playing their game, they'll come to you."

Again, Bowler was met with stunned silence. Finally, Hellboy spoke up, "That's the best plan I've heard so far." He said glibly.

"Nicely done, Bowler." County said, clapping his comrade on the shoulder, "Once again, you've proven how important it is to have someone with your perspective among intellectuals."

"Yeah, well I done save your ass enough times, huh?" The large black man responded.

Everyone began to laugh.

And the south wall exploded.

Instincts set in immediately as everyone dove for cover. Hellboy drew his gun and leapt to the wall, getting intercepted by an invisible force barrier. Another blast struck the barrier and Buckaroo noticed the red laser beam in the dust.

"Get down!" He screamed, "They're using laser sights."

"Sue," Hellboy hollered, "Let me through! I see him!"

Suddenly, Hellboy could pass through where the field had been. As he stepped forward, Dr. Banzai saw that the laser light moved up to the demon's eye. As the scientist and rock musician was about to yell a warning, he watched as the beam was interrupted by Hellboy's huge pistol. The demon looked down his arm for a split second and, as he did so, Banzai could see the beam as it went right down the barrel. The gun's discharge was still deafening through the din of the previous blasts and Buckaroo was amazed that even Hellboy's gigantic physique was rocked by the recoil. For a tense moment, Hellboy continued to aim in the same direction. Then he smiled and dropped his arm.

"Get ready, folks." The demon said, "He's coming."

Bowler leapt to his feet, his sawed-off shotgun in hand. He moved faster than his stature would have seemed to allow possible. He positioned himself directly in front of Hellboy and readied his weapon, aiming down the barrel. Suddenly, his face changed from stoic anger to surprise.

"Bowler, no!" Brisco yelled, far too late for it to do any good.

A creature the same size as Hellboy leapt through the hole in the wall, a massive sword in its hand. It wore armor made of bone and some sort of metal, but its feet and hands were bare. It had tendrils hanging off its head that looked like dreadlocks and a massive ovular forehead with a bony ridge around the perimeter. Its face was purely alien, with small, beady eyes, no nose, and a mouth that was covered by a quartet of talons which were open to reveal a few razor-sharp teeth. Its maw was open and a sound that Buckaroo approximated to be laughing was coming out of it.

It was having fun.

There was a tremendous clash as Hellboy blocked the creature's blade with his stone right hand, keeping its deadly arc from removing Lord Bowler's head from his shoulders. However, its own right hand was free and it landed a backhand squarely across Bowler's jaw and sending him flying into the East wall, a rivulet of blood trailing as he flew. He hit the wall hard and slumped to the ground.

Banzai looked back to the struggle between Hellboy and the creature to see that it seemed like the monster was winning. The sword grew closer and closer to the demon's face as he reeled from the force of the monster. Just as the deadly blade was inches from cutting into the massive red hero's face, the monster pulled it away and tried kicked out. Its foot landed flatly on the demon's chest sending the hero flying through the office door. It quickly looked around for another victim and its eyes settled on Socrates.

Sensing the danger, the lawyer leapt up to run for the destroyed door, but the monster was ready. Its right hand swung in an arc and a circular weapon flew forward. Razor blades snapped from the weapon on all sides as it spun a deadly arc toward Socrates Poole. The weapon slammed into the center of his back and sent him flying forward into a recovered Hellboy. Catching the lawyer, the demon looked down in anger as he watched the man's life fade away.

"Socrates!" Brisco screamed, "No!"

The creature began to move in Hellboy's direction, searching for a victim to kill on the way. Buckaroo Banzai unsheathed his katana and drew his pistol. He aimed at the creature's head and fired. The bullet cut into the skin on the creature's massive skull, but grazed off, leaving the beast momentarily stunned, but still up. Jack leapt into battle, his sword swinging in expert arcs, some of which managed to slice a hand full of small cuts into the beast's hide. The alien lifted its blade, in preparation to separate Jack from his head. With a smirk and a single fluid motion, Jack drew his flintlock and placed it into the creature's ribs. A spray of green, phosphorescent blood erupted from the beast's back, accompanying the explosion of the weapon's powder. A horrific scream erupted from the monster's throat as Jack tumbled away from combat.

Having dropped Socrates' lifeless body, Hellboy was stepping forward for another round. He halted when he noticed the creature collide with an invisible wall.

"I have him." Sue said grimly, "He's contained."

"Sue, I can deal with this." Hellboy said with a growl that sent a chill down Dr. Banzai's spine, "Make sure everyone else is okay."

"I protected Bowler." The Invisible Woman informed the demon, "And I can deal with this... thing."

Buckaroo approached the super-heroine. He could see the beads of sweat on her forehead as she strained to maintain concentration. He watched her body language sag slightly each time the monster slammed a massive fist into the barrier. Banzai knew that Sue Storm had been constantly straining herself for days with only minimal rest. She was immensely powerful, but even she had her limits.

"Sue, you can't keep this up for long." The doctor said calmly, loud enough to be heard over the creatures strange guttural laughs and screams, "Get Lord Bowler out of here. You gave us the break we needed and now, the four of us can deal with it.

Sue stared at the man for a tense moment, her eyes clearly showing her exhaustion. Finally, after a particularly violent assault on her force field, she nodded her head, "Get ready."

"On my signal." Hellboy said, redrawing his pistol and aiming at the beast. Banzai, with his Magnum, and Brisco, with his twin peacemakers, followed suit, the cowboy's face curled into a scowl of rage. Jack also stepped forward, finishing the reloading of his own archaic pistol and pointing the barrel at the creature's head. Hellboy moved into position closest to the creature, which had stopped its struggle and merely glared from one hero to the next. Sue made her way to Lord Bowler's side and knelt down near him.

"I'm going to put a field around us and make us invisible." She said, "We should be protected."

Hellboy looked to the heroine, his eyes showing great sorrow, "Be safe, Sue." He said. Then, as she disappeared from sight he added: "Now!"

The monster was free, but didn't move. It merely glared into the eyes of one hero and then the next, a low clicking emanating from its throat. Hellboy stood firm, advancing only slightly to match the few steps of his opponent. Brisco's eyes were cemented on the creature down the sights of his pistols. His right eye twitched as he watched it. Even Jack was grim, a look of determination glued to his snarling face. Buckaroo aimed his gun at the monster's left eye, hoping to blind it, if not slay it outright.

Hellboy finally spoke, "You are one, ugly mother..."

Before he could finish, the monster leapt at him and the room exploded with gunfire. Jack's flintlock tore a piece of flesh off of the alien's side and Brisco's bullets impacted one after the other in the soft flesh of the creature's belly. Hellboy's immense pistol demolished the armor on its left shoulder and Buckaroo managed to hit several times in the creature's upper chest, one of the bullets ricocheting off the armor and into the wall. With a savage scream, the monster brought its blade down on the demon hero. Hellboy tried to block again, but the beast changed direction at the last moment and the blade connected with the red one's ribs and opened a long gash. Groaning, Hellboy twisted with the blade and managed to move out of the way of the creature's follow-up arc. Jack and Buckaroo then went after the alien with their own blades. Flanked by the two heroes, it took a moment for the monster to adjust its strategy and, by the time it had, both Banzai and Sparrow had rolled away, leaving small slices and gashes in their wake. Brisco then stepped forward, holding Lord Bowler's sawed-off shotgun. He took quick aim and let loose with a volley of shot that perforated the horrific face of the enemy.

Rage, saliva, and phosphorescent blood erupting from its crab-like face, the alien leapt towards Brisco, who was already dodging out of the way. However, the creature never made its way to its target as Hellboy intercepted it with his body. The hero snapped his stone arm out and shattered the monster's blade, then brought his other hand up to grasp its larger right mandible. With a scream, Hellboy pulled on the mandible which tore away from the monster's face sending flesh and blood spraying. The demon then followed up with a massive punch to the creature's face, shattering bone and cartilage further. Reeling from the assault, the monster fell back several steps as Hellboy did the same. Dropping the hilt of the destroyed sword, the beast brought its left hand to its ruined face, but couldn't seem to move its right. Its growls turned into what almost sounded like whimpers as it surveyed the damage to its body.

"It's done." Brisco said coldly, "Whatever the hell it is?"

At that moment, the beast's whimpers turned into laughter; a forceful guttural laugh that emulated that of a human. It used momentum to swing its right arm to its left hand and opened a panel on its wrist. Tapping several buttons, the creature then fell to the floor, allowing the four heroes to see the rapidly changing alien LED as it beeped regularly.

"Bomb!" Buckaroo yelled, leaping to the monster's side. He studied the device for several moments before giving his analysis, "Unbelievable. This appears to be some sort of anti-matter device."

"How bad a bomb is that?" Brisco said.

"Bad." Banzai answered tensely, "It might vaporize everything within a few miles, unless I can figure out a way to..."

Just then, everyone noticed the blue-white glow emanating from outside. Buckaroo looked to Jack and Hellboy. Finally, he said: "Go, I'll try to disable this thing."

Kneeling down beside the monster's still body, Banzai only had a half-second warning before the monster lashed out with its left hand. Rolling backwards out of the grip of the creature, Buckaroo looked to his three allies.

"Why won't this bloody thing die?" Jack said, "I think it's high time for Captain Jack to determine what is the better part of valor, 'ere."

"Fine, Jack," Hellboy said with a snarl, "Just go."

Jack stared at the demon for a moment and, finally, offered his advice, "And my thought is: 'Perhaps we should make our egress together, 'cause I ain't leaving me mates behind.'"

Hellboy smiled and looked back to Buckaroo Banzai who was attempting to get close to the thrashing alien. He looked at the heroic demon and shook his head grimly. Suddenly, the beast lifted from the ground, surprising everyone in the room, including it. The beast floated out the hole in the wall and up into the sky. Banzai and the others followed the levitating creature outside, seeing a straining Sue Storm as she lifted the beast high into the air. She looked to them and waved sheepishly before returning her concentration to her task.

"This thing wasn't from here." She said, "Someone knows where we are. You gentlemen should keep moving."

"What about you, Sue?" Asked Hellboy as he moved closer to her.

"I'm staying here to deal with make certain this monster doesn't hurt anyone else." She then looked to Brisco and added, "Bowler will be fine, I got him to the doctor down the road."

"Good," The cowboy said and turned to Hellboy, "Then I'm going with you."

"Why?" Dr. Banzai asked, "You can stay here and take care of your friend."

"And bury another one." Brisco County Jr. said, "No, I aim to find out whose behind this whole thing and help you folks deal with him."

"The portal's beginning to close!" Buckaroo announced, "We need to go now!"

* * *

"What the hell do you mean the portals reopened?" The Chairman screamed.

"I mean they reopened." Henry Bendix said calmly, "Our countermeasures didn't work a second time. It's just that simple."

"Simple my ass!" Replied the leader, "Fine, then we may be able to redirect them."

"It might be possible," Bendix informed him, "But to where?"

"Anywhere, it doesn't matter. Just get all three groups into the same spot."

Bendix began furiously working for several seconds. The Chairman watched over his shoulder intensely, glaring at the screen. Finally, Bendix stopped working and stared at the readings, himself.

"It's done." He said with his classic professional calm, "All three groups are going to the same place."

"Excellent!" The Chairman said, a cruel grin making its way across his visage, "Where can we find them?"

"The only coordinates I had readily on hand," Bendix replied, "From whence our most recent recruit to our cabal came."

The Chairman thought for a moment and then smiled. "Phenomenal. Get me in contact with Brainiac. Once he arrived there, he'll have more than enough resourced to deal with these stowaways."

* * *

Ashly J. Williams was getting very tired of landing on his ass.

Since he had first encountered the busty brunette and her twin pistols, he had ended up on his posterior more times than he could count. She had appeared out of thin air and landed firmly on him, not usually an issue with Ash, but he was fighting a massive deadite monstrosity at the time. An archaeologist (Professor James... or maybe Jones?) had discovered what he thought was his career-making find: an ancient artifact that was rumored to have the power to return life to the dead. He had decided to unveil it at a huge gala to the upper crust in Detroit.

This, of course, went poorly.

A few hours later, Ash was facing off against the archaeologist (Johnson... Jersey... Jeffries... Carlson...?) who had been infused, of course, with massive amounts of deadite power. When the woman arrived, she interrupted the hero as he was about to fire his killing strike. The distraction almost cost both of them their lives, as the deadite-possessed professor (Kinder... Adams... Gobleski... that was it!) took advantage and sent a mass of writhing tentacles in the direction of the pair of them.

Fortunately, the lady had more than a sexy ass; she came equipped with a pair of pistols, intense acrobatic skill, and a bad attitude. The two of them managed to stop Professor Gobleski, but, as he died, he shattered the building's load-bearing wall. As the ceiling began to collapse, Ash saw a glowing bluish light in the corner. Knowing a portal when he saw one and seeing no other way out, he tackled the woman into the light.

And ended up on his ass.

The two of them soon encountered a gorgeous, green-haired woman who carried an arsenal and was fighting off an army of what appeared to Ash to be ninjas. Not really knowing what else to do and having a greater fondness for scantily-glad, emerald-maned babes than pajama-wearing martial artists, Ash and his new ally began blasting away at the ninja hordes. Soon, the dark-garbed fanatics ran for it, giving Ash and his the women a chance to figure out what had happened. The first one he had encountered was named Lara Croft and was a seeker of antiquities. The newest associate was called Aphrodite IX and seemed to know close to nothing about her own past. Soon after introductions and a quick explanation (and Ash's assumptions as to the sexual orientation of the women due to their lack of interest in him), another portal appeared and, with the shrug, the three leapt in.

Ash found himself again on his posterior in a wasteland of some sort. They began walking and quickly happened upon a small band of cultists who seemed prepared to sacrifice a young girl and her large, loincloth-garbed, dark-haired ally. Not being big on sacrifices, the three heroes managed to free the two captives. In the ensuing battle, the cultists were cut down and Ash ran out of gas for his chainsaw. Allies arrived just in time for another portal to open, the massive barbarian accidentally fell in, taking Lara when she tried to catch him. Aphrodite tumbled her way there and rolled into the portal, but Ash considered ignoring it. Then he though of the fact that he was all alone on a world he knew nothing about, so he made the leap.

He didn't think about his aching rump, and this was much to his chagrin when he once again landed upon it in a stinking alleyway in Victorian London. Expecting another short stay, Ash and the other three (the barbarian finally managing to communicate that his name was "Conan"). Immediately began looking for trouble. Finding none, they soon discovered that they seemed to be enjoying a longer stay this time around and had managed to gain the attention of the local authorities. Deciding not to resist, they were taken to Scotland Yard and introduced to none other than Sherlock Holmes himself. After explaining what they could to Holmes, they were locked up in holding until someone could figure out what to do with them. For almost three days, they rotted in the cell, Lara managing to parlay her linguistic skills into a form of communication with Conan and everyone trying to determine what to do next. Finally, another portal appeared and all four agreed that leaving for the unknown was better than doing nothing and wasting away in the Tower of London forever.

After another ass-first crash landing, the four of them found themselves in a series of smooth, futuristic hallways where red-lights were flashing and everything was shaking. They ran through the hallways in confusion until encountering an attractive woman with metal attachments on her face and wearing a form-fitting bodysuit. Quickly explaining their plight, she told them that they had wound up on a starship that was about to suffer a critical reactor failure and explode and there was no way off. The newcomers and the woman, called "7 of 9", spent several minutes trying to determine a way to fix it, but to no avail. Just as the shaking became more violent, yet another portal appeared and Ash threw the new woman over his shoulder and leapt for it.

Ending up where he was now.

On his ass just like the dozen or more beings who were looking as confused as he was feeling.

He looked around and assessed the situation. The three woman and one man had come with him: Lara Croft, Aphrodite IX, Conan, and 7 of 9. About twenty yards away, an individual that looked like a humanoid turtle kipped-up from his original position on the ground. Near him was a man wearing a crimson version of a Robin Hood outfit, and a pair of women; one in a black leather outfit with a cape and the other in some sort of raver get-up. About twenty yards away from them sat a quartet that could only be describes as a hornless demon, a pirate, an 80's rock star, and a good-looking cowboy. About a quarter of a mile away was a huge, ominous castle sitting beneath a dark sky. Beyond the castle was a rustic-looking village.

All of the others were getting to their feet and wore concerned and curious looks. Figuring that they might all be in the same position, Ash made the first move.

"Hey folks," He said, feeling stupid that he hadn't come up with anything better, "How's everyone doing?"

They all looked at him with bewilderment. Finally, the large demon-looking one spoke up. "I'm guessing we have all been going through something similar. So maybe we should compare notes and we can figure out what's going on."

"Sounds like a good idea." The turtle-looking one said, adding, "Maybe we can figure out who's behind this."

As if in response, a cacophony exploded in the air around them, sending a number of them to the ground (Ash included) from the sheer sonic force. Above them, the sky was gray and a gargantuan, metallic skull with writing, chrome tentacles floated above them. The skull emitted a voice that sounded like a toasted talking through a megaphone.

"Greetings heroes," The voice said with a complete lack of emotion, "The time has come for your journeys' to end. My name is Brainiac, and I have been sent to kill you all."

**End Chapter Five**


End file.
